Hey Zombies - 28 Days Later meets Hey Arnold (Season 1)
by mattjason93
Summary: A thrilling horror adventure with the Hey Arnold cast. 10 years after TJM. Arnold has finally gotten the life he deserves. The love of his life and his parents are with him finally. But a mistake by men of science creates chaos and all of it has been taken away from him. Arnold must work to get it back. Romance, thrills, chills, laughs, tragedy, and intensity await, Enjoy :)
1. It All Starts Here

Hey Zombies – A Hey Arnold! Fan fiction

Prologue:

Journal Entry #22; August 2nd 2002

We won. The last of our problems were over and we came back happy with smiles on our faces. Life was finally beginning anew, and things looked great. For a while I started to miss Helga calling me football head. All the mind games we played with each other and all the times we looked and hated one another. It took a summer in San Lorenzo for me to realize where my heart truly belonged. We flew back with my dad's friend Eduardo and his plane. My parents swore to me they'd never leave my side again. I knew they were telling the truth. They set up an office in Mr. Smith's old room, keeping in touch with Eduardo with beepers given to them by Big Bob Pataki, out of gratitude for bringing his daughter home. Although I specifically angrily remember him calling her "Olga" when they reunited after we came back. But I decided to over look it. I see where I am now, how things are back to normal, how my parents are by my side again. I can now say; I'm home.

Chapter 1

The flashlight clicked on. Even with its brightness, Eugene couldn't see a thing; nothing of value for that matter. Wind howled against the small basement window as Eugene panned his flashlight from right to left. The shelves were practically empty. It was not a good sign for the oncoming weeks, especially with four people needing sustenance. Eugene closed the door and followed the path out of the basement and back onto the main floor of Sunset Arms. Harold and Stinky were in the living room. The walls were cracked, paint started to wear out and the floorboards creaked with every step Eugene took. It gave Harold and Stinky no surprise to see him,

"Well Eugene? Where we at on supplies?" Stinky asked,

"Sorry guys, we're just about out of food. There's maybe two gallons of water left and three cans of pineapple cocktail. At this rate, we're going to be out of supplies in four days."

"What about that meat?! The beef we cooked outside two days ago?!" Harold bantered.

"Harold, the power's out. It wasn't going to stay good for long in that fridge down there. I know Arnold said we should save it, but he was just wanting to give us hope. I'm sure of it."

"Eugene, can you just keep your trap shut and never say 'sure' again?" Stinky suggested, "Your optimism's startin to get on mah nerves."

Eugene's forehead scrunched downward and his eyebrows raised pitifully, "Aw come on guys. It's not that bad. We've been here for two weeks. I mean Harold, it's exactly like the time we were in a tree!"

"I thought we were never talk about that again or I was gonna pound ya!" Harold raised his voice angrily, his fist tightened with knuckles crackling.

"Come on Eugene, that was ten years ago, we're grown up now." Said Stinky,

"Yea, with flesh eating sprinter freaks out to get us!" Harold added.

"Besides, have you ever thought to yourself, maybe it's time to check out? Kick the bucket?"

"Be at shalom with my brothers." Harold said.

"Harold, would you mind keepin' your religious superstitions to yourself?" Stinky responded to Harold.

"It got me through my bar mitzvah, it can keep me going in a zombie apocalypse!" Harold angrily replied.

Eugene interrupted, "Now fellas, how could you be so quick to give up? We've gone this long, why shouldn't we go for another day longer? Any day now, the soldie-"

"That's it! I'm kicking your ass Eugene!" Harold slammed out of his chair, ready to slam Eugene into the ground. Every step shook the floorboards.

"Everybody be QUIET!" yelled a voice from the kitchen.

Arnold put his pen down and took a quick glance over what he had written, "Journal entry #46, July 17, 2012. I thought we had won, the last of our problems were over and we'd go home happy with smiles on our faces. I thought I was finally home. My parents swore we'd never come apart again. Helga swore we'd always be at eachothers' side. And here we are, trapped in my once true home, now a destroyed wreck. Ten years is not enough time to catch up with my life. I wasn't finished before the madness happened. My friends and neighbors could be dead and waltzing around right outside my door, I may never see Helga, or my parents, or I could be forced to kill them if I saw them one last time. I've decided now was not the time to give up hope. I have a plan, and Eugene, Harold, and Stinky are going to listen. I know it'll work."

Ten minutes later, Arnold had Harold, Eugene, and Stinky sitting in silence across from each other, pondering what Arnold had just told them.

"I duno Arnold. You really think that'll work?"

"It has to, they're drawn to any sort of motion. It's been almost a month and we've had no activity on this street. They're getting hungry." Arnold responded.

"But it's a fight or flight plan Arnold, if we get caught in the wind, we're done for." Said Eugene.

"That's a chance we'll have to take." Arnold said, everybody sat in silence, "Look, I've been planning this for about four days now. I'm sorry I haven't brought it up until now but I didn't want to give you guys false hope. But there's no question about it for our situation now. We're dying. And if we don't act, we're going to die here, in my destroyed home."

"Arnold. It's hard to understand, but this ain't your home no more. We're all here to survive, not make irrational decisions." Stinky said.

"When your family's been taken away from you, irrational is the only way you can think." Arnold responded.

"But we could die if we mess up. I don't wanna die!" Harold said whiney.

"You're not gonna die Harold. Before this madness, I've seen you work out. You've run up and down 33rd street six times in one hour and look how slim you've gotten! How can you not out run flesh eating zombies?" Arnold rebuttled.

"Well for one thing Arnold, I didn't have flesh eating zombies out to get me when I was burning my fat!" Harold responded.

"I for one think it's a great plan!" Eugene chimed in.

"Shut up Eugeeeeene." Harold murmured.

"Look Harold, it won't be as challenging as you think it is. If Stinky's truck is still there, he can hotwire it for us while you keep the ones on the street busy. When you hear us get the truck started, get to Gerald Field lot and we'll pick you up. I promise you, swear by my life that you will be safe." Said Arnold, everybody sat in silence, pondering,

"Look, this is our street, and we know how our street works. If we can't execute this plan, than this wasn't our home to begin with. But we've been here for twenty years, as long as we've been alive. After all this time, I finally had a home, with people I love. Richtofen took that away from me with his greed and selfishness. He took it from all of us. It was just like Scheck. He wanted to make the world a better place but at the cost of our home. We fought back, and we won. This time around, we need to fight twice as hard. Now what do you guys say?"

Silence.

"I'd say you're as crazy as you were ten years ago Arnold." Harold said blandly. Arnold started to droop his head out of loss of hope, "But like Gerald always said, you're a bold kid." Harold said again with a smile.

Arnold started to glow again, and things started to look up, "Come on," he said, "Let's go get find the rest of our family."

Eugene went back down to the basement and grabbed the cans and water jugs. As he brought them upstairs, he walked past Stinky whom was rummaging through the closet till he found his shotgun and the shells in a separate red box.

Harold was in the living room, tying his shoe laces on his Reeboks, his heart pumping. Arnold came into the room, "Doing ok Harold?"

"Yeah I'm ok. Just nervous, not ready to die, you know?" Harold said.

"I know Harold. But understand that when we find our friends out there, you will be hailed a hero for helping us escape this death trap." Arnold said. Harold smiled and looked back down at his shoes. "We're heading out in fifteen." Arnold said, raising his voice a little.

When the time came, it was Arnold, Eugene, Stinky, and Harold at the door. Stinky had the shotgun pumped and ready to go. Eugene, the duffle bag of supplies in his right hand, and Arnold at the door handle, holding the last piece of the barrier he had torn down that was previously put up.

"Ok Harold, ready? Make no mistake. This is fight or flight. Live or die." Arnold said.

"I know Arnold. Let's do this." Harold said.

"Ok." Arnold breathed out a sigh of tension, "One." The others started to shuffle their feet. "Two." Harold's lip quivered, he thought of Rhonda for a second, her black hair, before the thought was gone. Arnold shouted.

"Three! Go!"

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To be continued in Chapter 2


	2. Finding Friends

Chapter 2

The breeze kept the foul odor of the slop away from the truck cab. As long as it kept the monsters away from their car, Sid and Gerald felt as safe as they could be. The night was dark and smelt of death. As cliché as that may sound, Sid and Gerald were still afraid of what they might find in the depths of their old home.

For a while, the roof of PS 118 was their safe house, until they ran out of their special slop concoction that covered their human scent with its foul odor. Sid's truck still had a few buckets of it in the back, which kept them safe as they drove through 34th street, looking for any survivors.

"There's nothing here Gerald. You're not gonna find what you're looking for."

"Sid, keep it down with the pessimism would ya? Arnold's out here, he wouldn't abandon his home that quickly. Double back onto 33rd again, maybe something's changed." Gerald said. Sid sighed with exhaustion and turned at the next corner. 33rd was just as dead. Sid looked at Gerald in discomfort, with eyes of reassurance. "Flash the headlights." Gerald ordered.

Sid pulled the switch and the beams of light shot outward. Any zombies in front cleared from the pain of the brightness. Gerald stuck his head out the back window and took a whiff out of the slop buckets, graceful yet disgusted that they were still giving off their strong odor which continued to block their scent. Sid clicked the lights a couple more times until he began to hear something. He stopped clicking the lights, and turned them all the way off.

Gerald pulled his head back in, "What is it?"

Sid said, "Out there, by Mr. Green's shop." He pointed to the right. Gerald leaned forward and squinted. Sure enough, there were four figures on the roof of Green's shop, hopping up and down, waving their arms. Surrounding them was a horde clawing at the sides of the building, hungry for their meal. "Let's go." Sid said. Gerald nodded in agreement.

They slowly pulled up and stopped the truck a few feet from the horde that surrounded Green's shop, wanting the flesh on the bones of those four standing on the rooftop. "I'll toss a slop bucket on them, you find a way up to that rooftop." Gerald reached under his seat and pulled out his makeshift machete. Sid and Gerald piled out of the truck. Sid hopped in the back and picked up a bucket. Gerald dashed for the side of the building, jumping a couple blocking his path, running for the side of the building.

"Arnold! Arnold you up there man!" Gerald called. Sid took the slippery bucket in his hands and cast the slop inside onto the horde. Slowly they began to disperse, the slop's odor sealing up their hunger and they began to roam again.

"Arnold!" Gerald called again. A few seconds later, a football shaped head peaked over the side.

"Gerald!" He said. Next, Stinky stuck his big pencil head over the side.

"Well if it ain't Geraldo, in the flesh. You're lookin good sonny boy! Lose weight?" Stinky said to lighten the mood.

"I'd be lankier than you Stinky, who's there with you." Gerald said.

"Stinky, Harold and Eugene. You got room in your truck?" Arnold responded.

"Just enough for the four of ya. Can you handle the smell of slop?" Gerald said.

"What?"

"Slop. I'll explain when I get up there witcha."

"Sure, those bins to your right we used as a ladder, knocked them down so they couldn't get us." Arnold said.

"Copy that Arnoldo." Gerald said. He quickly started to create a makeshift staircase out of the bins and cans piled up at the building corner.

"Got maybe five more minutes before the slop wears off Gerald!" Sid called. Gerald began to hustle and slowly began his ascent up to the building.

The boxes suddenly jerked from under him and before he could topple with them, Arnold was there to grab his hand and helped him up. Gerald found himself on top of the creaky rooftop of Green's shop to see Arnold and Stinky standing beside him, Eugene standing on the edge with his hands in his pockets. Harold was leaning against the exhaust vent, clutching his hand. Gerald started to march towards him.

"What's with big boy Harold?" Gerald asked.

"Oh it's nothing; he had an accident trying to get up here. Broke his finger" Arnold explained.

"Why's there blood all over him? He needed a band-aid for something broken?" Gerald asked, more suspicious.

"Really Gerald it's nothing." Arnold said again.

"Sure don't sound like nothing to you or me." Gerald said, he leaned down and snagged Harold's hand, pulling it away from his own clutches. In horror, Gerald stared at Harold's left hand, missing a finger and green pus pulsating from the open veins. Gerald dropped it and backed away in disgust.

"He got bit." Arnold said sullenly, his head started to droop. Gerald looked at Arnold and back down at him. Eugene noticed them and started to walk towards them.

"It was a good cause Gerald. He did what he could to save us from Arnold's boarding house." "You lost the house?" Gerald asked.

"It's gone Gerald. We had to get out or we were gonna die."

"So you baited our friend to save your own skins…" Gerald murmured.

"I wasn't bait Gerald," Harold spoke up, grunting, "It was the best I could do and my hope got the best of me. Dad always taught me never let hope turn into expectations."

"How much time you got left?" Gerald asked bluntly. Arnold tapped his shoulder roughly.

"Maybe half an hour. If it wasn't for Arnold's pairing knife and cutting off my finger, I would've turned by now."

"That's for damn sure." Gerald responded, he turned and pulled Arnold aside. "Arnold we can't take him with us. No chance to find a cure in that time. We either take care of him now, or let him suffer."

"Two more minutes guys!" Sid cried from the truck.

"Arnold we gotta do it now or never. Harold's a walking time bomb, we can't take him with us!" Gerald raised his voice. Arnold started to speak. But Harold coughed.

"I'll go out there." Harold said. Everybody turned toward him, "I'll go out there and drive them away as far as I can. I'll run south, you guys take the truck to Stinky's house get his truck and get the hell out of here." Harold finished.

"Harold, no, there's got to be some other way."

"One minute!" Sid cried.

"Arnold, you've always had my back for better or worse. I owe you my life anyways for San Lorenzo." Harold said with a smile, "I'll drop down and drive them away. When you hear me hit the ground, you take off and go." Harold stood up with strain but Eugene helped him up on his last leg. Harold looked at everybody and then walked to the ledge of the building.

Arnold looked at him, "Harold..What about Rhonda?" Harold stopped, looked forward and then back at Arnold, "I knew she always liked me. If you see her, tell her I still remember the Tunnel of Love." Harold said. Before Harold turned back towards the horde down below him, Arnold saw a tear shining off his cheek from the dreary sunrise.

"Good luck big boy." Gerald said.

Harold said, "Shoulda seen me earlier Gerald, I was a beast, drove them off a mile."

"Always had it in you Harold." Arnold said with a smile.

"Bye guys, keep me in your thoughts and stay alive." Harold said. With that, he leaned forward, shouted "Geronimo!" and landed on the pavement, thirty feet below him. The zombies barely noticed him as the odor of the slop was slowly wearing off. Harold looked around for a moment, regained his bearings and started to sprint down the street to the left, "COME ON YOU CREEPS! COME GET YOUR MEAL!" Harold cried. Slowly but surely, the horde started to draw away from the building and began to pick up Harold's scent. They started to growl and snarl, before long, they were sprinting down the road after their newfound bait.

The group still on the roof took their moment of silence and Gerald spoke up, "That's that, let's get moving." He turned around, and leapt off the rooftop to the side, Arnold, Stinky, and Eugene followed suit. They ran back around to the front of the building where Sid was waiting.

"Let's get the he double hockey sticks out of here!" Eugene exclaimed. He, Arnold and Stinky hopped in the back of the truck, and Gerald slid into the passenger seat. Sid struggled with the key.

"Come on Sid let's go!"Gerald cried.

"The engine's not sparking! Key won't start the damn thing!" Sid said as he gruntingly turned the key repetitively.

"Let's goooo!" Gerald cried again. Sid continued to struggle until he stopped. A sound echoed down the street, distant at first but slowly started to grow louder. It was a howling screech, like a derailing train scraping the rails as it tumbled. Everybody in the truck slowly turned toward the direction of the sound. What they saw was horrifying. Arnold stared in horror as what appeared to be thousands upon thousands of bloodthirsty monsters sprinting down the street charging directly at the truck.

Sid sat in the driver's seat, dropping the key to the truck floor, to no avail.

"Is this really happening fellers?" Stinky asked, his voice shaking and lip shivering.

"I think so Stinky.." Arnold mumbled. Before he knew it, a hand grasped Arnold from behind and pulled him off the truck bed to the floor. Arnold looked up at his captor and horrifyingly gasped at the sight of a zombified Harold, breathing, his chest pumping in and out, white shirt coated with viscous saliva still drooling from his mouth. Arnold could only stare at the stars above as the horde slammed into the truck, overtaking his friends, and Harold bending down to tear open Arnold's throa-

The truck bounced from a rock on the street, the bounce slammed Arnold's head against the window and woke him up.

"Rise and shine Arnold! You done near passed out as soon as we got to the truck." Stinky said, his hands gripping the wheel. Arnold panned his eyes over to the passenger seat, Eugene leaned around and took a look at him.

"Looks like you needed that rest Arnold." Eugene said with a smile. Arnold then looked over to his left side and saw Harold there, his arm resting on the window sill and looking out to the night sky.

"Whe-where are we?" Arnold choked.

"35th street, Harold was lucky he didn't get caught up in his sprinting, getting to the truck wasn't so hard, now was it?" Stinky responded.

Arnold looked out, the apartment buildings towered over, businesses were closed for food, and blood was scraped and caked along the sidewalk, "Go back to 33rd."

"33rd? Arnold, we just came from 34th, what makes you think going deeper into Hillwood's gonna help us?" Stinky asked.

"I just have a feeling. Don't worry, I think we're in the clear. I feel like there's something we have to do there. I don't know what." Arnold thought of his dream, of Gerald and Sid, of Mr. Green's meat shop.

"Whatever you say Arnold." Stinky said. He sighed with exhaustion and turned at the next corner.

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To be continued in Chapter 3


	3. Marty Green

Author's Note: This chapter is a bit more lengthy; I'm planning to write at least two more chapters for the metaphorical "first season" of my fan fiction. Once I'm done with all five chapters, which should be by the end of next week, I have to take a break, do some brainstorming and I also have other projects I'd like to work on during the summer. But rest assured, as I go to work every day, and sit at home playing Binding of Isaac, I'm thinking of this fanfic 24/7 and I have big plans for it Expect a teaser for what's to come after the end of "Season 1".

Chapter 3

Mr. Green's shop was just up ahead. The wheels of the truck kicked up dust from the road and the wind carried the particles away. Stinky had to dodge several pieces of debris, random objects in the road, empty trash bins, shattered glass, corpses.

"Right here's good." Arnold said. Stinky adjusted the wheel and pulled the truck closer to the abandoned shop, getting close enough to not be detected and at the same time be close enough if a getaway was needed. "Kill the engine." Stinky turned the key and pulled it out to put it in his pocket. Then he reached behind the seat and pulled out the shotgun from the chair's backside pocket. One by one, the four piled out of the truck, and approached the front entrance of Green's shop.

"No lights. I don't hear a thing." Arnold said.

"Sure am smelling a thing, gee." Stinky said, holding his lanky nose. Eugene choked a bit.

"Who knows how much produce is rotting in there." Eugene said, "Arnold, are you sure this is a good idea?" Eugene asked.

"I'm positive Eugene. Come on, we'll go in together." Arnold replied.

"Great, you first Arnold." Said Harold. Arnold approached the door, its bottom half still standing and attached to the hinges while the top half was completely smashed in, as if someone broke in from the outside. Carefully, Arnold took it step by step, climbing over the intact part of the door and placing his feet on the green tile floor which was surprisingly dry and absent of any sort of mess or human remains. Arnold slowly rotated completely around, observing his surroundings as the rest of his group entered. The first thing to catch Arnold's attention was a low droning hum, next was the foul odor that circled the room.

"Great, we're here, now what?" Harold said.

"Try the lights." Arnold ordered.

"Arnold, we're livin' in a world where everything is destroyed, what makes you think the lights are gonna work here out of all places?" Stinky questioned. Arnold looked back at him, determined and began to walk toward the front counter. Stinky sighed and walked over back to the door and flicked the light switch. A quiet buzz echoed the room for a second and then ceased. No lights turned on.

"Eugene, come with me, we're gonna check the back. Stinky and Harold, look for anything useful, knives, food." Arnold approached the door to the back storage room, it was still intact and almost looked brand new. Arnold slowly opened it and Eugene followed, leaving Harold to examine Green's family pictures on the walls and Stinky to rummage behind the counter.

The storage room was just as empty, the low droning hum was the only thing Arnold kept hearing. As he brought it to Eugene's attention as well, the two began to seek out the source of the noise. Arnold walked one way and the sound started to get quieter, Eugene walked the other way and it got louder. The hum was at its loudest at a door to the employee restroom, it started to sound like an engine. Eugene called Arnold over. The door was locked. The two backed away and Arnold caught site of an orange wire running from under the crack at the bottom of the door to a busted hole in the wall.

"Wait Eugene, don't try anything yet. I'm gonna try something." Arnold said, he walked away, glancing one last time at Eugene to check his safety, and approached the light switch they had past when they entered the room. Slowly and quietly, Arnold reached out with his hand, pinched the switch with his two big fingers and moved it upward. The lights instantly clicked on, both Eugene and Arnold flinched with pain at the sudden burst of light.

"Turn it off, turn it off!" Eugene whispered loudly. Arnold agreed, knowing any source of light could draw attention from "unwanted guests". After he turned the switch off, he went back over to Eugene at the door with the hum on the other side, "On three?"

"On three." Arnold replied. The two counted to three, and slammed into the door with their shoulders. The impact noise echoed the front room where it caught Stinky's attention. He looked toward the direction that Arnold and Eugene disappeared to but then continued to scavenge.

"Again." Arnold said, the two backed up, and then synchronously slammed into the door, their momentum carrying them into the newly opened room. After regaining their balance, they looked around the utility bathroom, the humming noise blasting from the stall. Arnold looked back down at the floor and found the orange wire again. He followed it to the door and creaked it open. It revealed a small metallic box with pipes running around the exterior. A small green light emitted from the top where the orange wire connected next to a small screw cap. Arnold could smell the gasoline.

"A generator. Still running." Eugene said.

"Turn it off and check inside, maybe we can siphon the gas out and use it for the truck." Arnold said as he left the room, leaving Eugene to examine the generator. Arnold went back out front to where Stinky and Harold were. Stinky had a makeshift container in his hand with a few cans and a bottle with something in it. Harold had found a leather pouch with a couple kitchen knives in it. "We found a generator, it's still running but the gas could be useful."

Just as Arnold left the back room, a shadowy figure snuck past the entry door and entered the bathroom. Eugene had crouched down to examine the generator closer and started to unscrew the gas cap. As soon as he had it cracked open, two grimy hands gripped Eugene by the shoulder. The figure growled and tossed him out of the stall, slamming him against the tiled wall. The impact caught the trio's attention in front and they dashed back to the employee restroom. Stinky grabbed his shotgun off the counter and followed suit.

Accidentally Stinky tripped, sending the shotgun flying further into the storage room. They piled at the bathroom door to see the overweight figure towering over an incapacitated Eugene, a long metallic object in his hand, almost about to strike Eugene down. It noticed Arnold at the door and began to charge him. The three dashed out of the way, dodging the hefty character as it came charging out swinging its club around. Stinky regained his balance with the shotgun and took aim, trying to adjust to avoid hitting anybody else besides the shadowy clad figure.

Just as the figure entered the dim lights of the storage room, Arnold could see the freckly glasses clad face of Marty Green.

"Mr. Green stop!" Arnold called. As he began to calm Marty down, Stinky and Harold began to notice it was Marty Green as well, uninfected and face full of terror. "Mr. Green! It's ok, it's us!" Green started to slow down his swinging, and his gritted teeth started to loosen, his cries of fear getting calmer and calmer. "Mr. Green, it's Harold, Stinky, Arnold, and Eugene. We're not infected, we're here in the flesh."

"Take it easy, Marty." Harold chimed in. Marty started to squint, dashing his eyes between the three teenagers before him.

"Ar-Arnold?" Marty said in his raspy voice.

"Yes Mr. Green. It's us. Put the crowbar down." Arnold said with a smile. Marty let the metal bar droop to the floor in his hand

"My god. Never thought I'd see you boys again. Not after all the hell these last few weeks." Marty said with a cough to the floor. When he raised his head again, Stinky could notice spittle drops of red in the spot where Marty coughed.

"Have you been here all by yourself?" Harold asked.

"Willie was here for about the first week, but being locked up in here didn't sit so well for him." Marty coughed again, this time internally, "You know how the 'jolly olly man' is." Marty said sarcastically.

"I'm sure he's doing alright." Arnold said.

"Yeah, probably cutting off heads left and right whether they're human or not. How'd you get in here?" Marty asked.

"The front door was bashed in. We heard the humming of your generator so we came back here to check it out."

"Yeah that damn thing's been keepin me alive for some time now."

"How much gas does it have?" Stinky asked.

"The tank's maybe half full, and I've got something with about five more gallons in it over in that corner over there." Marty responded.

"We can siphon the gas out of there and use it for our truck. You can come with us, we're about to head out of town." Arnold suggested.

"I would Arnold, but I don't know if I'd be able to leave. I mean I'm big, you guys are small, I'd burden you too much." Marty replied. As he spoke, Stinky started to notice Marty's hands, the hand not holding the crowbar had a faded colored bandage wrapped around the pinky, or at least where Marty's pinky should be, "Besides, I love my shop, feel like I was born to live and die with this place in my hands, heh." Marty ended, he started to walk back towards the front room, "Sorry about Eugene by the way. Is he okay?" He said.

Just as Marty spoke, Eugene came stumbling out, his hand clutching his shoulder, "I'm okay." Eugene droned.

"Come on Mr. Green, this may seem like the end, but we've got so much more to live for. Helga, Sid, Gerald…all of the kids love you and your shop. Do you realize how much it would mean if they saw you still alive?" Arnold said.

"I can't Arnold. In fact, no that you mention it, your friends came through here just a few days ago." Marty said.

Arnold stopped, his head started to spin, thoughts started to pour out, thoughts of hope, dread, fear, "Was it Gerald and Sid that you saw?" Arnold asked.

"Yeah…yeah in fact it was them two, they came in and asked if I'd seen you. How'd you know?" Marty asked.

"I…I don't know. Gerald and I have always been best friends, I figured I'd ask." Arnold responded. The rest of his group looked at him dumbfoundedly.

"Well regardless, they were asking about you and the boarding house. Apparently there were too many of those things to get to your house. They said they were gonna keep heading east toward 118." Marty said.

"Come on Arnold, let's go. Maybe Gerald's got a safe house set up at the school." Harold suggested.

"No, Marty, I am not leaving you here to die. You deserve better than that." Arnold said sternly. Marty was shocked that Arnold had called an adult by their first name for the first time in his life.

"Arnold. You're a good kid. Always have been a pusher, not for the bad, but for the good of everyone in Hillwood. You have no idea how good you are." Marty said, coughing again, leaning against the doorway to the front lobby.

"I do what I can." Arnold said, still stern.

"And that's why you're bringing this place back to life one day. You and your friends are like a gift to me. Every time I saw you come in. Harold I still remember how much of a pest you were wanting to work for me, every day." Harold smiled at his remark, "And Stinky, I still recall the meat feast your family put on for Thanksgiving. That was my record sale for my shop. Thank you for that Stinky." Arnold could see a tear glistening in Marty's eye.

"Mr. Green.. Why are you telling us all this?" Arnold asked solemnly.

"Can't tell you Arnold. But I can tell you, you need to get out of here and quick. I don't know how much time I've got left." Marty responded.

"Why's that…"

"I think I know Arnold. Show us the pinky Mr. Green." Stinky said. Marty realized he had been discovered. He started to approach the boys, unwrapping the bandages on his pinky. As he peeled the last of it off, the four revolted in disgust to see Marty's pinky completely hacked off, and green pus pulsing from the open veins. Arnold began to recall his dream, how Harold had the same injury, the exact same hand, same color of pus…

Arnold began to realize what his dream was telling him, "Mr. Green… How long ago had this been?"

"Three days ago in fact, one of them crashed through that door back there. I got him but only before the bastard nicked my hand. Cutting off the wound as close to the body as possible seems to slow it down but I can tell I don't have much longer. Seriously, Arnold you guys need to get out of here and quick. Find your friends and start anew."

Arnold sulked his head, realizing what was about to happen.

"I know how it must feel, getting your life back, and having it taken away from you. Your parents actually bought from me one time. They're beautiful people, and they raised a beautiful son."

Arnold continued to remain silent. Eugene started to approach him to convince him to leave, "Ten years ain't enough time to catch up with your life son. I still remember the day you returned. You had your parents by your side, I'll forget how glowing you were…I could tell you were finally happy. Understand this Arnold, go out there. Go out there and get your life back. And if you ever see that Richtofen prick, tell that bastard Marty Green sent you and pop him one for me…will ya do that for me Arnold?" Marty said.

Arnold slowly raised his head and looked Marty directly in the eyes, "I swear it."

Marty returned Arnold's answer with a jolly smile.

"Come on Arnold," Eugene said, "If Gerald and Sid are out there looking for us like he said, they can't be far away." Arnold nodded; he turned and started to follow everybody else out. Arnold looked back one more time to see Marty Green.

"Take care Arnold. Tell Helga and your parents I said hey." Marty said with a wink and a smile.

Arnold choked on a single sob and a tear dripped down his cheek.

"Wait," Marty called, "Stinky, come here with that shotgun." Stinky looked at the group and went back to Marty. Arnold, Eugene, and Harold went back out, and approached the truck.

Marty walked over to one of the shelves, clutching his finger in pain, "Wasn't a good idea to open that bandage. At least it'll be over soon. Stinky you know what to do."

"I do, Mr. Green." Stinky responded. Marty started to grunt with pain, his freckled face started to matte with sweat.

"Don't waste a single second now." Marty said. Stinky nodded. They waited in silence for a few more seconds. Then Marty said, "What about your family Stinky?"

"Dad's gone. My mom was evacuated, couldn't get home in time to join her." Stinky said sullenly.

"You're gonna find her Stinky. I'll make sure of it when I see the man upstairs." Marty said. He began to grunt again, louder this time. Stinky knew it was getting closer and he backed away.

As Marty took in his final breath, he said, "At least we took care of those damn potholes." Marty grunted with a smile. He exhaled all the breath he had left, and before it was, he was gone. Stinky cocked the shotgun and aimed it at Marty's body.

Outside, Eugene and Harold were sitting on the edge of the truck bed and Arnold rested against the driver's door, his head in his elbow.

Next thing they heard was a loud screech, and soon after, a loud gunshot that seemed to echo for hours…..

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To be continued in Chapter 4


	4. Just Around The Corner

Chapter 4

Author's Note: To fill any plot holes you guys may notice. I had forgotten to put in the plot summary that Miles and Stella now work for Future Tech Industries, under the helm of its new CEO, Victor Richtofen. They are high in rank and they work in the medical department where they have donated their research on the sleeping sickness. Eduardo is with them and he runs a rescue task force made specifically for epidemic situations. Just in case, if it's not clear in the context, I want to make the story as clear and as entertaining as possible

June 30, 2012

Arnold was upstairs when there was a knock on the door. Miles went to and answered. He smiled with delight at the presence he saw before him. Calling Arnold's name, he leaned against the banister of the stairs and Arnold came pouring down the steps, his plaid pearl snap shirt fluttering in the drifty air. He pulled on the edge of his inner green shirt as he looked up to see who was at the door.

"Eugene! Stinky!" Arnold called with delight. He rushed to them and gave them both hugs, "Can't believe you showed up!" He said again.

"Didn't think we'd skip out on you during the summer didja?" Stinky said.

"We just got back a couple days ago in fact. The lease on our house expired June 1st so we had to head out sooner or later." Eugene said with a smile.

"Awesome! How was your first semester at DeVry?" Arnold asked.

"A bit glum, sad that my parents couldn't afford Julliard, but I'm glad Stinky was there to help me settle in. With a house to share, classes to go to, we did alright for ourselves." Eugene responded.

"You shoulda seen him in 'Eugene, Eugene!' Arnold. The director loved him." Stinky said.

"Wish I could've, but my classes here in Hillwood kept me from going anywhere, plus I had to help Mr. Green quite a few times for my community project." Arnold replied.

"Gee Arnold, ten years in the making since you found your folks and you're a changed man." Stinky said. As they began to talk their way up to Arnold's room, Miles smiled and walked back down the hallway. He glanced up at a portrait of Phil and Gertrude, taking extra time to look at Gerty's glowing face. He continued to walk down to the study where Stella was.

"Ten years later and those boys are closer than ever. Never thought I'd see Arnold grown up and happy at the same time." Miles said delightfully. Stella however couldn't give him feedback. She had the cordless phone in her hand; both hands clutching it tightly and Miles could see her lip quivering with fear.

Meanwhile, up in Arnold's room, "Arnold. Tell us, did you get it?" Eugene said, his legs tucked under and hands on his knee caps, like a second grade girl at a slumber party. Stinky was also tickled pink to hear Arnold's answer to Eugene's question.

"In fact, I was gonna get it tomorrow." Arnold said. Eugene and Stinky sighed with happy relief.

"About time Arnold. Took you guys twenty years to get on the same page and now it's happening." Stinky said.

"What's the ring like? Is it round? Shiny? Is the diamond huge?" Eugene asked hastily.

"Woah slow down Eugene. Listen, it's perfect for her, that's all I care about. I'm ready and so is she."

"You guys need a wedding planner? I've learned some expert techniques on how to make an outstanding wedding!" Eugene said.

"No, I'll keep in touch with you though, ya never know." Arnold said with a smirk.

Miles began to storm up the stairs to Arnold's room, Stella right behind, "Miles, we can't do it this fast. We have to be subtle." Stella said.

"There's no time for subtle Stella." Miles responded.

"He has his friends, his girlfriend. You think this is gonna be easy for him? We can't take him and just leave them behind."

"Eduardo said he had evacs coming in right?" Miles said.

Stella rebuttled, "There are no guarantees in this situation. We need to get Arnold out safely. I'll take him, you keep in touch with Eduardo and make sure Arnold's neighborhood gets picked up."

"Fine." Miles said before he knocked on the door. Slowly, he opened the door and popped his head in, "Arnold can we talk to you?" He said. Arnold got up, gave a quick wave to his friends and went out into the hallway with his parents.

"Son, we have something to tell you. It's pretty big, but we don't know how else to say it." Miles began. Arnold looked at him very worriedly and puzzled, "There's been an accident at Future Tech."

"Our medical department has had some issues with our research on the sleeping sickness and apparently our last experiment went wrong." Stella added.

"What do you mean?" Arnold asked, still extremely worried.

Miles walked downstairs to the study and Arnold and Stella followed, "You'll probably be able to see for yourself." Miles said as he clicked the remote on the television and changing it to the main news channel.

Arnold stared in horror as he watched a helicopter shot hovering over New York City where it looked like swarms of people charging others. He could see little red spots all over the streets and realized it was a violent scenario. He stopped his horrific thoughts to listen to the newscaster, "The outbreak had been spreading since early this morning, no comment is being made on the cause of this horrific scene but one thing is certain, these people who appear to be infected have become extremely aggressive and are very violent. This is an emergency report from New York SkyCam."

It then cut to a news anchor at his desk with hands squeezing the papers in his hands nervously. "It's a very disturbing scene indeed. At this time we are beginning our emergency broadcast system for Hill County. If you sense any violent activity outside, please remain indoors, find supplies to barricade all entrances to your home and await further instruction. We will attempt to remain on the air as long as possible here at the station. Please, stay safe and God be with us all."

"That's enough, Miles." Stella said. Miles quickly clicked the television off. Arnold continued to stare at the blank screen, the reflection of his horrified expression stared right back at him.

"How bad is it?" Arnold asked looking at Miles.

"We don't know son. But it's bad enough that we have to evacuate. There's nothing else we can do. Eduardo's got his team coming in that's going to evacuate as many people as they can. So far the outbreak is only on the east coast, it is airborne but we don't know how fast it's moving. A chopper's gonna take us to one of the FTi stations out west. There we'll be safe."

"My friends?" Arnold asked.

"They'll be fine. I promise you," said Miles, "Eduardo assured us he's got choppers coming for Hillwood. Everybody in the neighborhood's gonna be evacuated. The priority is that we get you to safety so we can figure out how to fix this."

Arnold sat there, his face a dull blank, "Things are going to be different Arnold. But they will never change between us." Miles said.

"Remember our promise. We're keeping it. We have to leave, but this time you're coming with us." Said Stella, "this time you're coming with us…." The words echoed in Arnold's head.

Arnold stirred quietly in the back of Stinky's truck. They were fifteen minutes away from Green's shop, the location they had just departed. A small bump woke him, but slowly and surely, Arnold drifted back to sleep.

It was only after Miles and Stella reminded him of their promise that Harold came banging at the door, he looked panicked, his head matted with sweat and red blobs sprayed on his clothes. "Harold! What is it?" Miles asked.

"Th-they killed Mrs. Vitello!" Harold erupted, bursting into the house, "I was at her shop, I had these flowers in my hand. I went to pay for them and these two employees came bursting out. They dashed after her and took her over like animals!" Harold continued to scream.

"Harold calm down..what did these two people look like?" Miles asked. Police sirens stared to blare behind Harold, dashing down the street.

"They were just people, working for her flower shop. Their eyes looked red and lips were almost cracked and bleeding" Miles looked back behind him, towards Stella and Arnold.

"It's here."

Miles dashed down the hallway with a duffle bag in his hand, "Arnold go wake up Phil in his room. Harold, Stinky and Eugene are upstairs, get the other boarders out on your way and get them on the roof."

He entered the study where Stella was, on her cell phone, a Future Tech Industries logo stamped on the phone's exterior, "Any word from Eduardo?" Miles asked.

"The choppers took off from the base twenty minutes ago; they should be here in a minute." She responded.

Miles came back out to the hallway where Arnold was, leading Grandpa out rubbing his head groggingly, "What in the heck hootenanny is going on Miles?" Grandpa asked.

"No time to explain Dad, we've gotta head out of town for a while."

"Oooh, did you get in trouble with your fancy new company?" Grandpa asked sarcastically.

"Something like that." Miles responded with a bitter smirk, "Come on, we gotta get to the roof, there's a chopper coming to get us." Miles started to rush up the stairs, followed by Arnold, Stella, and Phil. Coming onto the roof from Arnold's skylight window, the whole boarding house was there.

"Wait, I forgot something." Arnold said. He dashed back down through the window and went to his desk, grabbing his journal.

Miles stood among the group, "Mr. Shortman! What is going on?" Hyunh asked hastily.

"There was an accident at Future Tech, a virus is spreading across the east coast." Miles responded. Just then, a loud slamming noise drew the group's attention to the side of the building. They stared in horror to see people charging at other people, slamming them to the ground, fists throwing everywhere. Two cars had collided and both slid onto the sidewalk. One had caught on fire from the impact. Suzie Kokashka's eyes started to dilate, her nose flared with fear. Oscar stood next to her, arms slumped at his side, equally afraid but not sharing it with his wife. Beside them was Terry Flinch, a new boarder who had moved in three years prior to the house.

"Come back over here everybody!" Stella called, "The choppers are gonna be here any minute. As long as they don't see us up here, we'll be fine." She assured.

"Wait!" Miles called. He remained on the edge of the building and watched as the sprinters drew closer and closer to the boarding house's front porch, "If they get any closer they're gonna try and get in. We need more time. Terry come with me." He said as he dashed back down the skylight window, Terry followed. "Arnold come with me, we need to bar the front door." Miles said as he passed Arnold at his desk, looking at a picture of Helga. He tucked the photo in his button shirt pocket and followed his father. They went down both flights of stairs and stood at the front door.

"Terry, grab the couch in the living room, Arnold go help him." The two obeyed. Miles went into the kitchen and grabbed all the chairs, followed by the dinner table itself, dragging it over to the door.

Before long the door was sealed by three hundred pounds of wood furniture and heavy table top accessories, "What about the windows?" Terry asked.

"Close the blinds and hope they don't see us." Miles aid.

Back on the roof, Stella watched as two large Chinooks drew closer to the rooftop.

Down in the house, Terry approached the window. He reached for the stick that operates the blinds until suddenly a bloody hand smacked against the glass. Terry jolted for a second. The infected human stared at him, lips cracked and eyes red like Harold described. It rubbed its hand up and down the glass a couple times and stared directly at Terry.

Before Terry could swallow or even blink, the zombie crashed through the window with its shoulders, pinning Terry on the ground. Miles rushed to his aid as Arnold backed away in panicked fear.

As Miles grasped the zombie's shoulder, he turned to Arnold, "Arnold, the closet! Get something blunt!" Arnold quickly dashed to the front closet and reached for his personal baseball bat.

Miles backed away as Arnold slammed the bat into the zombie's back. It only seemed to make the monster more aggressive. It drooled and spewed blood all over Terry's face and seemed to only get more stuck to him. Finally Arnold held the bat down low and took a golf swing at its head, sending it flying. Its head was cracked, blood poured out of its ears from the blow. Terry lay twitching on the ground.

"Arnold, give me that." Miles said, holding his hand out. Arnold handed him the bat, "It's too late." Miles said as he reared the baseball bat behind him. He threw it down hard into Terry's face, smashing what was left of his skull into the carpet.

Arnold stared in horror, Miles had killed someone he had lived with for three years, who he worked with, had a beer with, had laughs with.

The choppers had landed. Two people in black uniforms with sub machine guns came dashing away from the helicopters' gushing winds. One went up to Stella. The other escorted the rest of the group to the second helicopter. They each piled in and buckled into their seats. Suzie sat next to Helga Pataki and Bob Pataki, her father.

"Mrs. Shortman! We need to evacuate you and Colonel Shortman immediately!" He said as the first chopper took off.

"My husband's downstairs with my son!"

Back down in the house, "You need to learn this here and now son. If we can't get this under control soon, and more of these things start to emerge. You have to do what needs to be done." Miles said, stern. Just then, a loud slam hit the front door. One of the two soldiers came running down the stairs.

"Colonel Shortman, you and your family need to get on the chopper upstairs immediately." Miles nodded.

"Roger that, let's go." Just then, another zombie came hopping in from the window followed by a few more. Their aggression got the best of them as they staggered to enter the house. The soldier took aim with his weapon and fired, killing two of them. They went back up to the roof as more slamming rocked the door and its faulty barricade.

The second chopper had already lifted off; everyone was loaded on except Eugene, Harold, and Stinky. Arnold, Miles and the soldier ran up to the helicopter. Arnold could see several people already inside, but they didn't look like civilians or neighbors of Hillwood, Arnold could see some dressed in lab coats.

The other soldier who was waiting cried out to them, "There's no more room! We need to get Colonel Miles out of here!"

"No! My son and I go together or neither of us!"

"You are priority Colonel Shortman! We will protect your son until another helicopter arrives." Miles looked over at Arnold, next to his friends and the other soldier.

Miles looked the soldier dead in the eyes, "You fail that promise, and I will not rest until I see you in a chair with a needle in your arm."

"I promise sir." The solder replied.

Just then, the skyline window busted open and zombies began spewing out onto the rooftop, charging at Arnold.

Arnold woke up for good this time, the truck had stopped, Stinky struggled to get it started, "Truck's dead, outta gas." Stinky said. Everyone sat in their seats in silence, "Any ideas?" he said.

Arnold looked out the window, "Hey, left side, look!" Everybody turned to look down a dark alley. On the other side they could see a dim lit street. The only building they could see had big red text on the front with a bumblebee next to it. Arnold could make out the text to read, "Bumborn Elementary – PS 220".

"What makes you think we'll stand a chance in there?" Harold asked.

"The lights are on." Arnold said.

"Barely." Eugene chimed in.

"Come on, maybe there's gasoline, or shelter, it could be sealed up pretty tight." Arnold said. Everyone sat in silence again and pondered.

"I already outran one horde and survived. Let's go for two." Harold said sarcastically.

The group slowly hopped out of the truck, leaving their doors open to avoid noise. Eugene reached back into the truck to grab the food they still had. Stinky grasped the leather belt that held his shotgun to his back.

"No point in sneaking, if we run, we can make it there before we're even noticed."

"That's at least five hundred feet Arnold." Stinky said.

"Got any better ideas?" Arnold said. Stinky shut his mouth.

"Ready?" Arnold said. The heart beats of the group almost pounded together synchronously. Arnold turned to his left, a zombie staggered out from behind a trash can and turned its head, grunting as it caught site of the boys. It sneered and growled loudly, "Run!"

Quickly, the boys dashed down the alley, they came out the other side and only slowed down slightly when they noticed the new street they came out on had a bit more "traffic". At least twenty zombies were there and they all caught site of the group, "Keep going!" Arnold cried.

They quickly ran up the stairs to the front doors of the school. Arnold began pounding and everybody else joined in.

The zombies began to sprint closer and closer, Arnold continued to pound. He caught a whiff of a foul smell, something familiar, almost from his dreams. Just then, the doors burst open. A masked figure came out, a bucket in his hand and tossed it on the boys, covering them all in green slop. All of a sudden, the sprinting monsters stopped at the foot of the stairs. The foul odor had blocked their scent.

"Walk in slowly; don't make any sudden movements, smooth like a cat burglar." The masked figure said. His voice sounded extremely familiar to Arnold, like that of a close friend.

The group entered and the masked figure shut the door behind them. He turned back around, "Well, let's see what we got here. We got one, two, three, four chumps still hanging around Hillwood with flesh eating monsters and not a single method of beating them." The figure said. He dropped the bucket and grabbed his mask, slowly peeling it off to reveal a dark skin colored face and black curly hair that stuck up a little long, Marge Simpson style.

Arnold and his group stared in exciting shock at Gerald's face, "Bet you boys missed this handsome devil now didn't ya." Gerald said, "Welcome to PS 220, your new home." Gerald said with a smile.

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To Be Continued in Chapter 5


	5. The Hand That Holds The Strings

Author's Note: This is NOT the "season finale" I was promoting. As I started to write, tons and tons of exposition came storming into my head like a stampede and I wanted to include it all. This chapter will bring a lot of detail into the Hey Arnold universe I've created. It should set off the track for the rest of the series I have planned. So I've decided to split the finale into two parts. Here is part 1. Enjoy

Chapter 5

The zombie waltzed around inside its cell. It stared in all directions trying to figure out where it was. Out of the corner of its eye, came a black suited figure. The creature slammed against the wall, attempting to attack its newfound prey but the glass kept it from doing otherwise. The man was very stout and tall, in a black suit, latex gloves on his hands. His glasses reflected the light from the ceiling. The rays bounced off his glasses and reflected in the glass barrier between him and the captured zombie.

The man stared at his subject for a moment, bringing a hand up to stroke the whiskers on his chin, "Any development?" He asked. To his left sat a white coated male looking at flickering lights on a dim computer screen.

"Nothing but signs of starvation." The scientist responded, "If at all possible, we could give it another dose?"

"No, keep the subject potent. The less chances of finding a cure is more beneficial for us." The man in black responded.

He exited the room, leaving the scientist to continue entering data in on his computer while the zombified human continued to slam against the windows, desperate to attack. The man in black walked down the brightly lit hallway and turned a corner. He walked up to the second door on his left and entered, the letters on the front read "Cell B2".

The man walked inside, pulled out the chair on his side of the table and sat down. He crossed his hands and laid them on the table. Across from the man in black was Miles Shortman, hands cuffed to two rings stuck on the table, "Now, are we finally going to have that talk I've mentioned?" Miles lifted his head and slightly shuffled his cuffed hands.

"You tell me, do I look ready?" Miles said. Then out of nowhere, he lurched forward and spat a big wad on the arms of the man in black.

The man, disgusted yet amused, pulled a white handkerchief from his suit pocket and wiped his arms, "Colonel Shortman, I wish I could be blunter and clear when I say I mean no harm to you or your family. But I don't know how else I can convince you we're doing the right thing."

Miles moved his jaw and grunted in pain, "Death, bringing death to innocent people. Causing chaos around the world because you wanted to gain reputation and make an extra buck?"

"It's more an exploration Miles. Understand its change, evolution of the world as we saw it and changing it to something new." The two sat in silence, "So whatdya say Miles?" The man leaned in closer, "Let's start talking."

Miles looked up at him, and took a breath in, "Fuck. You."

The man scrunched his chin in disappointment and looked off to the side. He leaned straight again, "We'll talk later then. Until then, your wife's keeping our subject company."

Miles instantly snapped, snapping his arms forward and reaching for the man's hairy neck, ready to wring him to death, but the struggle ended up sending him toppling off his chair to the floor, his arms yanked by the chain holding them to the table.

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July 19, 2012 – Two weeks after initial outbreak

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Gerald led Arnold and his group down the candlelit hallway, zombies continued to slam against the front door, but to no avail.

"This is incredible Gerald! You secured this whole school by yourself?" Arnold said in excitement.

"Well not entirely. I had a little help." Gerald said. As they talked, a glasses clad girl with black hair and a blue v-neck came out of one of the classrooms.

"Arnold? Harold?" the girl said with a bright smile.

"There's our brains." Gerald said with a smirk. The girl ran up to Arnold and wrapped him in a vicious hug.

"You had me freaked out! When I saw the chopper over your house go down, my heart dropped! I'm so glad you're alive!" The girl continued to say. She gave tight warm hugs to the rest of Arnold's group.

"Glad to see you made it too Phoebe." Arnold said, his voice heart-warming and comforting for the group.

"Where's our little scout?" Gerald asked.

"Still looking after Hyunh's arm." Phoebe replied. She led the group to the room. Arnold entered and saw Hyunh sitting on top of a desk, one arm down at his side, and the other in the hands of a boy wearing a long light blue shirt, his hair pulled downwards into a bowl. The boy gently set Hyunh's arm down.-

"Arnold! You made it!" The boy said

"I sure did, still going strong, right chocolate boy?" Arnold said.

"Sure am. By the way, the name's Charlie now." The boy replied.

"Giving up the nick name chuck?" Stinky asked.

"No, just finally growing up." Charlie said with a smile.

"Arnold, good to see you again!" said a high pitched voice from the corner. Arnold turned to see Oscar Kokashka sitting against the wall, "I can't believe you made it out of that madness at the boarding house." Oscar said.

"I was lucky, I had a few friends to help me out." Arnold said, looking back to Harold, Stinky, and Eugene.

"Yes! Very lucky! Hard to believe you're still alive!" Hyunh said.

"Good to see you too Mr. Hyunh." Arnold said with a bright smile, he turned back to Gerald, "Is it all of you?" He asked.

"It's just us." Gerald said. Phoebe looked at Gerald with a sense of confusion, almost as if Gerald had hid something in his response. Gerald looked at her and continued to explain.

"Phoebe and I were at the movies down the street when this mess happened, there was nowhere we could go that was empty, till we found PS 220. Went inside and locked it up no questions asked. About a day later, your family Oscar and Hyunh here showed up at the front door and Charlie snuck in from the top, thankfully I didn't have my rifle.

"And you've been here for two weeks?" Eugene piped in.

"With no issues," Gerald bragged, "The school's generators have been keeping us warm, the lights can turn on, albeit a bit dim. And the cafeteria's food is still good, as far as I know." Gerald said, his eyes looking to the side.

"Gee, we should've come here sooner." Stinky joked.

"Come on Arnold. You guys stay here, I'll show Arnold where you'll be bunking." Gerald took Arnold out into the hallway, "You four can stay in room seventeen down there." Gerald pointed.

Arnold stopped him mid walk, "Gerald. Thank you, for everything, you still haven't let me down. Think I've lost count of how many debts I owe you." He said.

"No need Arnold. I've been there through the thick and thin, we were together from start and we will be there together at the finish. You guys are safe here."

"Thanks Gerald." Arnold said. He continued to look into Gerald's eyes, he wanted to ask the million dollar question. Gerald knew it, and he didn't know how to tell him the truth.

"Did you see her?" Arnold spoke.

"I did in fact. During the evacuations a couple choppers went down, I didn't think anybody survived. But two days after the outbreak, she showed up, said she and her dad were in one of the choppers with your parents." Arnold's eyes widened, "Apparently it went down and when she came to, her dad and your parents were gone. No blood, no signs of attack."

"Which could mean-"

"Which could mean anything, Arnold. We can only know in time. Knowing your parents and what they've put up with in San Lorenzo, it's a given they're still alive. Maybe more troops came and picked them up."

"Maybe." Arnold replied sullenly, "But where is she now?" He asked again.

"There's no easy way to say it, she went missing too, about three days ago. There's a hunting lodge about a block away from here, it's our storage for supplies. We usually make a run there about every three days or so, but she made one unscheduled. Went out on her own. She was smart enough to take a walkie with her and we tried to get her back. We communicated for a while but then we started to hear a struggle. Last thing we could get out of her was the name 'Willie'. Before we knew it, she was out of range. No sign of her since."

Arnold drooped his head, collapsing against the wall, he let his back slide down against the wall till he hit the floor. His parents and now the love of his life, missing. Gerald came to his side and slumped down beside him, "Hey, don't worry. It's just like her to do things by her own book."

"It can't be that easy, not for a situation like this. She may be tough, but I've seen her get scared. When Bob had his stroke, she came over and held me for hours, couldn't let go." Arnold responded. Gerald sat there in silence, acknowledging Arnold's pain, "I just wish we could go back to the way things were. I wasn't ready for something like this."

"Ten years is not enough time to get your life back man." said Gerald, "She'll be fine. I know it. For all we know zombies cut her off and she could only run the other way."

"Sure. That's exactly it." Arnold's optimism started to kick in, yet he still remained worried.

"Come on bud, lemme show you something." Gerald patted Arnold on the shoulder and the two stood up. Gerald took Arnold to a flight of stairs and walked up to the second floor of the school. Down the hall, Gerald entered a classroom on the corner, Arnold followed.

"This is the biochemistry room they had. Also the room with the most windows." Gerald said as they walked in.

"More windows means more exposure." Arnold said.

"However, we hardly come in here, the real use for this room is right over there." Gerald pointed to a small brown box on a table next to rotting plants. A small metal rod stuck out from the box and leaned against the large window.

Arnold walked up to it and leaned in, he could hear a gentle hum, "It's a radio?"

"Better, a transmitter. We've had a looping message being transmitted out about ten, fifteen miles at least."

"Does it work?" Arnold asked.

"Well it brought chocolate boy in. As sneaky as he was, we hardly saw him coming. We're just hoping the military guys are still out there looking for survivors. You guys brought the only action we've had since Oscar and Hyunh showed up."

Arnold's eyes widened, he barged out of the room and Gerald followed in hot pursuit, calling after him, "Wait! Arnold where are you going!"

Arnold stormed back into the classroom where Oscar and Hyunh were recuperating, "Mr. Kokashka, where's your wife?"

"She was on the other chopper with your parents Arnold. Why do you ask?" Oscar replied.

Arnold turned back to Gerald, "You said Helga woke up unconscious after the crash right? Did she say anything about Suzie Kokashka?"

Gerald thought for a moment, "Yeah, matter of fact she remembered seeing another woman on the chopper with her, she was gone too when she woke up."

"Four adults missing but the only survivor, a young adult was left behind. It doesn't add up." Arnold said.

"What're you saying man?" Gerald asked.

"I'm saying someone picked up my parents, Mr. Pataki, and Mrs. Kokashka and left Helga for dead." Arnold said, strong determination and suspicion in his voice.

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Miles grunted with pain as he straightened himself in the chair. A throbbing pain shot through his backside and he looked to his left. The two sided mirror reflected his scratched up face. On the other side stood the man in black, his arms crossed behind his back and he observed Miles. He turned around and walked out. He re-entered the cell block and strolled down the hallway. "Hey! Glasses!" said a rough booming voice. The man turned and looked into the cell with the source of the voice, "Ya gonna explain to me why I'm locked in here?"

The man stood straight, "For your protection. We need research subjects."

"Research subjects my ass! I want answers, first chaos erupts on my own street, and next thing I know I'm in a chopper going down, by the time I'm awake, I'm in a god damn cell! Now are you gonna tell me things! Or am I gonna have to stand up and drag you in here with me through these narrow bars." The prisoner growled.

"Mr. Pataki, right? I assure you, this is a controlled environment, we are merely problem solvers figuring out what is happening to our nation. This pandemic as you would call it is something we are trying to solve. All we ask is your patience and cooperation." The man in black said as he continued to stroll down the hallway.

"I've got your cooperation right here." Bob Pataki mumbled as his hand gripped his groin area.

"Wish I was as abrupt as you." A womanly voice uttered. Bob looked toward the cell diagonal from his own.

"Who's there?" Bob asked.

"In time, we will get our answers but at a price, I'm sure of it." The voice said, Bob could sense the feminine tone.

"Come on, cut the Shakespeare and show me your face lady." Bob said. In a moment, the woman scuttled from her sitting spot over to the cell bars and put her face right up to the space between the metal. It was Suzie Kokashka.

"Hey, you look familiar, didn't you live with that Arnie kid Helga was always talking about?"

"I did, my husband and I, yes. God knows what my husband is doing now. Probably thinks I'm already dead and scavenging for his own life." Suzie said bitterly.

"At least you've got hope your husband is still out there…" Bob uttered, his voice turned melancholy and Miriam's beautiful face stuck to his brain's eye. He'd never see her again.

"I'm sorry. What's your name?"

"I'm Bob Pataki." Bob replied.

"Pataki, your daughter's name is Helga right?" Suzie asked.

"That's right."

"Arnold was always talking about her. Pretty sure she was over at least three times a week, for ten years. Don't think Arnold went a second without thinking of her."

"Yeah I remember all the times we had to take care of her dates. Proms, Homecomings. It was a crazy time." Bob said, a small smile erupting on his face.

"That's love for you Bob. Anything you did, you did together." Suzie said.

"Miriam wasn't always like that with me, took us a few years to straighten out but we started doing ok. Can't tell you how much I miss her, with all the chaos happening out there now." Bob said

"I certainly hope Helga and Arnold are doing okay. Better than Oscar I hope." Suzie said.

"Oscar? As in your husband? Oscar Kokashka?"

"Yeah? You remember him?" Suzie asked.

Bob replied, "That bastard owes me twenty bucks!"

.

.

.

Three days later

.

The playground was bare, a large wooden fence bordered the whole field, connecting to the sides of the school. Charlie held his slingshot with tension, his shoulders were broad and raised up so high, almost out of their sockets. Gerald came up to him, "Easy on the tension choco boy. Relax your shoulders and focus on your aim."

"Quit calling me choco boy Gerald. I keep telling you, it's Charlie."

"Ok Chuckie, whatever, hit the target and I'll stop with the name calling." Gerald jested. Charlie took a deep breath and released his grip. The projectile flew across the grass and struck the bottle, shattering the top of it. The remnants topped over off the barrel into the grass. Gerald stood there, stunned as Charlie swung the empty sling in his hand, "Impressive." Gerald uttered.

Charlie pocketed his sling and grabbed the bag of his homemade ammo, airsoft beads glued together into solid pieces with super glue, "How many of those you got left?" Gerald asked.

"This bag and another inside, maybe about a hundred total. We ought to get more bbs on our next trip to the hunting store." Charlie said.

"Yeah maybe." Gerald said, patting Charlie on the shoulder. They entered the scHool, Gerald closed the door behind them and slid the metal rod back between the door handles. Then a noise drew their attention. They started to follow the reverberations of the noise till it led them to the cafeteria. It was like chewing sounds, grunting and gnawing biting noises.

"Wait here." Gerald ordered. Charlie nodded and leaned against the wall, gripping his slingshot tightly. The crunching noises gave Gerald more fear but he courageously approached the door.

All of a sudden, Eugene turned around the corner, "Hey Gerald-question about the truck outsi-" Gerald silenced Eugene before he could talk anymore and beckoned him to go over by Charlie.

Gerald inched closer and closer to the door until his hand could reach the handle. He settled his palm against the metallic door and gave it a good shove. It slid right open, and Gerald peaked inside. He followed the trail of the noise and saw a balding figure at one of the tables. His head moving in quivers, and what looked like crumbs fell to the floor.

"Oscar! What're you doing!" Gerald cried out as he recognized the figure.

Oscar whipped his head around, mouth full of sustenance. Eugene and Charlie came inside and saw the can. It was a large ounce can of trail mix, popped wide open and crumbs all around the table where Oscar sat, "Oscar! What're you doing getting in the supply?" Gerald erupted.

"I'm sorry Gerald. It was tempting after I had lost my ration. I just wanted to get my fill for the day." Oscar said with a conniving chuckle."

"We have to have food for the rest of us Oscar! We were supposed to save everything for another week! How many times have you snuck in here?"

"Only now, this was my only one!" Oscar said instantly, a bit of nervousness in his voice that Gerald could pick up. Oscar than drooped his head a little, "I've been coming in here for the last two days. This is the last trail mix left. This and a bag of rice."

Gerald threw his head back in anger and scrunched his fists against the cafeteria wall, "I'm sorry Gerald. I was only trying to survive."

Gerald instantly got in his face, slamming his hands on the table, "Surviving doesn't mean being a pretentious selfish asshole!" He screamed. Gerald whipped his head back around and stormed out of the room. Eugene and Charlie looked at him disappointedly then followed Gerald out, leaving Oscar sitting in the dim light of the large room. The silence started to fill Oscar's head with a low drumming moan. For a second, Suzie popped into his head.

"Charlie, find Hyunh and look at his arm again. Eugene, what'd you wanna tell me." Gerald said very blatantly.

"I wanted to know if the humvee was good for a run to the hunting shop." Eugene said.

"You don't need me for that, check on it yourself." Gerald snapped. Eugene turned and walked down the other hallway. Charlie followed. Gerald walked into the classroom where Arnold slept to find him rolling up his sleeping bag, "Arnold that Oscar guy is something else. I don't know how you put up with him all your life."

"Took some getting used to Gerald. What'd he do this time?" Arnold asked.

"Turns out, for the last few days he's been going strong on sneaking into our food supply. We only have half a can of trail mix and a pound of rice left." Gerald responded. Arnold stopped and stood up to look at Gerald.

"That can't be."

"Oh but it is brother. We need to do something now or we're gonna have trouble here."

"I would say we're already in trouble." Arnold responded, "Seems like we've got bigger headaches."

"What do you mean?" Gerald asked worriedly.

Arnold lead Gerald down to the basement floor. They walked down the long main corridor and entered the door at the end of it, to an even deeper floor where the furnace and complex maintenance facilities were housed. Gerald looked in pure shock at what Arnold had to show him. Before them were two black boxes, one was purely still and the other was still vibrating and humming.

"We lost one of our backups, it croaked out some time around noon." Arnold said.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Gerald said, rubbing his hands down his face in stress.

"At this rate, we're gonna be out of energy in two days. No heat or light, and all the gas will be burnt out."

"So what do we do?" Gerald said.

"Something crazy I had in mind." Arnold said.

"Oh no Arnold, not another one of your bold plans." Gerald groaned.

"What else are we gonna do? Listen, we've got the humvee and your car out back. Stinky's truck is a block away from the school. We can grab all that we have, take the cars, and head west." Arnold suggested.

"Arnold what on earth makes you think we're not gonna find the same chaos here out west?" Gerald asked frantically.

"It's worth a shot. Maybe they stopped the spread. Maybe there's towns sealed off or quarantined. From what my parents told me, this thing started on the east coast in one of the FTi labs there. Hillwood wasn't even the beginning, by the time it hit us, all the north eastern states had been marked as infected. From there it just kept spreading west. Maybe Future Tech figured something out and they have places for survivors to stay."

"It's insane Arnold, we'd have to drive miles. Who knows how far we can get with the gas we have now."

"It's a chance we'd have to take. Here, we're good as dead, but if we take a chance, and move, we could find others. Helga, Rhonda, Sid, we all had a chance to evacuate, and that's exactly what they did. Let's start our own evacuation."

Gerald stood there, pondering. He clicked his tongue a couple times and looked in a few different directions. "Nine people, three cars, two pistols, a shotgun, and a rifle. Potentially millions of zombies out to eat us and kill all of mankind."

"Exactly." Arnold said, a devious little smile on his face.

"You're a bold kid Arnold. Let's do it."

.

.

.

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To be continued in Part 2 – Chapter 6


	6. Teaser

Thursday…

Prepare for the end of the beginning. Getting out of Hillwood was no challenge. Escaping PS 220, could be a piece of cake. But what awaits beyond the urban streets of the neighborhoods we've come to know with Arnold and his friends…something more sinister.

This Thursday, keep your internet refreshing and don't get up from that computer chair, the season finale of "Hey Zombies" is coming...Thrills, chills, and action packed into a double length chapter. Experience loss, hope, and fear from the perspective of loveable Hey Arnold characters. It's gonna be a rough ride.

Season Finale of Hey Zombies season 1, coming this Thursday.


	7. Error in Exodus

Note: This is the second and final part of season 1 of "Hey Zombies". This fan fic is written serially. If you had just starting reading, I strongly suggest you read from the beginning and catch up to this point, believe me, you would miss out on A LOT if you didn't. All that aside. Enjoy the first finale of my serial fan fic "Hey Zombies – 28 Days Later Meets Hey Arnold"

Chapter 6

.

July 23, 2012 – Three weeks after initial outbreak

Arnold, Eugene, Stinky, Harold, Gerald, Hyunh, Oscar, Charlie, and Phoebe huddled around a single classroom desk, each either leaning against a desk behind them, or standing straight with their legs crossed. Arnold's eyes darted from left to right in the group, "It's either we do this, and find hope to survive, or we stay here, and die slowly."

Silence continued to fill the room, a howling wind hit the windows, rattling them slightly, "Who wants to draw first." Arnold asked. On the desk in the middle of the circle, was a matchbox. Inside were several matches, and only three were burnt. Whoever pulled the three burnt matches were obligated to embark on a journey to the hunting shop to gather all supplies they can carry, including the emergency gas tanks that Gerald had stored there for the Humvee they had in the back.

"I will." Said Hyunh.

"Mr. Hyunh, you have a broken arm, all you'd carry is a pistol you won't stand a chance." Arnold said.

"Arnold, my boy I'm surviving as much as you are, when it's life or death, we all have same chance." Hyunh responded. He reached in, his head turned the other way, grabbed a match and pulled it out. He let his breath loose when he saw the match head was still clean and red.

"Sit down Hyunh, you ain't goin nowhere." Gerald said. Hyunh backed away from the circle, a hand on his forehead in disappointment. Eugene pulled next, followed by Stinky, then Harold was up next. He began to reach for the match and then backed away. An image of his own corpse lying on the asphalt shot through his head, followed by Rhonda standing over it in tears. Words could not express how much Harold missed her-

"Come on Harold. You need to draw." Arnold said. Harold snapped out of his nightmare and grabbed a match, it was clean as well. Oscar approached the box and reached in, he shuffled around the match sticks hoping for a clean one. He pulled one out and looked in horror to see a black burnt end in his hand. It still felt warm.

"Looks like we've got number one." Stinky said. Oscar backed away.

"Can I have a redraw please?" Oscar asked fearfully.

"We all got one chance Mr. Kokashka, it's only fair." Arnold said.

"But it's too dark and far out there. I don't want to die in a dark place." Oscar said.

"Oscar! Don't be a coward. It's time you faced the dark!" Hyunh erupted.

"He's right Mr. Kokashka. We have to do this for the sake of all of us. Please?" Arnold said.

"I won't do it. I don't want to die to those creeps out there." Everybody was shocked in silence at Oscar's rebuttle.

"Mr. Kokashka…" Arnold uttered disappointedly.

"I'm sorry Arnold. I want to live." Oscar replied. Dismissive by his stubbornness, Gerald approached him. He snatched the burnt match out of his hand.

"Then I'm number one." Gerald said, he gave one last look at Oscar and mumbled under his breath, loud enough for Oscar to hear, "Czech bastard."

Phoebe began to approach the box. Gerald watched her in slight nervousness, "Not you Phoebe." Arnold said. Phoebe's arm began to recede but her forehead started to scrunch.

"I'm quite able of taking care of myself Arnold. This retrieval business won't be a problem." She snatched a match from the box. It was clean. Gerald sighed with relief and pulled her in by the shoulder. She reciprocated with leaning her head on his chest, staring at the burnt match in Gerald's hand.

"I'll go next." Arnold said, he leaned in, shuffled the pile, and pulled one out. He sighed and said, "Number two." As he tucked the burnt match into his pocket, "Charlie." He said, looking at Charlie, his hands rubbing together in nervousness. There were only two matches left.

Charlie slowly walked forward, reached in, selected one match and slowly pulled it out. He moaned in somberness as he saw the burnt end. His legs started to shake, fingers pinching the match in his hand. Gerald put Phoebe aside and walked up to him, "It's ok Charlie. We're gonna look after you. Arnold and I, we promise." Gerald said, he looked at Arnold, waiting for Arnold to chime in.

"Yeah Charlie. Stick with us, and you'll be just fine." Arnold said with assurance. Charlie sunk his head into Gerald's side, tears streaming out. Gerald turned, still holding Charlie, and burnt fire into Oscar's stomach. His anger warmed his body and his forehead began to sweat.

Later, Charlie and Arnold were by the back door, checking their weapons: Stinky's shotgun, two Beretta pistols that Gerald snagged off a couple dead soldiers, as well as a fully loaded M4 carbine with two additional clips, thirty rounds each. In a classroom not far from them, Gerald held Phoebe in his arms tightly.

"I don't want this to happen." Phoebe murmured, her voice shaking.

"I know, but it has to be done. Arnold knows what he's doing." Gerald said as he stroked Phoebe's shoulder, comforting her with all his effort. He then took her away from his chest and looked into her eyes, Phoebe's arms still holding him by the waist, "Listen, we've stayed alive this long. There's still something we gotta do on God's green earth I bet. We're still around for a reason, and maybe it's to get you out of here." Gerald said, his mouth forming into a smile.

"Not your only reason. You're coming with me." Phoebe said jokingly, a big smile on her face. Gerald then pulled her in for another hug.

"You think Arnold's gonna find her out there?" Gerald said.

"Wherever she is, I know she's thinking the same. We'll find her, I know it." Phoebe said.

Charlie waltzed in on them, and knocked at the door, "Um Gerald, we're gonna be leaving soon." Gerald took a deep breath in through his nose, kissed Phoebe on the forehead and began to walk out.

"Gerald!" Phoebe called. Gerald stopped at the door and turned back, "Be careful, for your sake and mine." She said. Gerald smirked.

"Always am."

Soon, Gerald, Arnold, and Charlie were loaded. Everybody else was camped by the door, each with a bag of some sort in their hand, with all the supplies they had left in the school, as well as blunt objects. Arnold and Charlie stood by as Gerald held the chain that walled them from the beings outside, "Alright, you guys got the plan. We're gonna be out there half an hour tops and then we'll be heading back. If we're not back at the thirty five minute mark, you guys run for the Humvee and get the hell away from here. Got it?"

Most of the group nodded in agreement, "Let's do this. Eugene start the time." Gerald ordered. Eugene looked at his digital watch, and pushed a button. The 0:00 clock started to tick in black digitized letters. Gerald thrust open the door and went out, Arnold and Charlie followed. Harold stood by and closed the door. He picked up the chain and held it tightly, walking back to his spot on the wall, and slowly fell to the ground. Phoebe continued to stand, her thumbs rubbing consistently and palms soaked with sweat.

Outside, the foul air crept up on the trio standing right outside the doors. It was extra cloudy. The sky glowed a faint blue, more grey than any other color. Stenches of death and rot filled their noses as the three slowly trotted down the steps toward the backyard of the school. The field was bare. Glass from the bottle Charlie shattered earlier that day strewn across the gravel.

"We have to move, we've got a bit of a walk to the hunting store." Gerald said. He cocked the shotgun in his hands and they began their journey.

Bob rubbed his heel against the ground, one hand he had on his hip and the other was scratching an itch on the back of his neck. He clicked his tongue once and breathed in through his nose. He looked out over his shoulder through the cell bars and saw the hall, vacant. Across, he could see Suzie's feet, tapping against each other and her heavy breathing.

"Doing alright Suzie?" Bob asked.

"Yeah, just nervous. You think we're gonna get out of here?" Suzie asked.

"I couldn't tell ya. If they've got Helga somewhere else locked up, I'd be damned if they were doing something to her. You remember seeing the other chopper go down?"

"Hardly, I heard the explosion and last thing I saw was a big rotor colliding into the school. I know Oscar and the other boarders were on it. Next thing I knew, the guy next to me was gnawing into the pilot's neck and we crashed ourselves." Suzie responded.

"It's a regular B-horror movie garbage fest out there. Never thought these things could be real." Bob said.

"It's possible. The human body can live for some time even after death, in some sense, the body can be its own fuel source. Whatever started this, it's easy to spread. I saw on the tv an outbreak in Pennsylvania. People biting other people, they fall down and get back up in seconds. Scary thoughts."

"What're you? A nurse or something?"

"Nursing school, I had a couple classes."

All of a sudden, the door opened. The man in black strolled up to Bob's cell, a guard donned in a grey jumpsuit and clasps of armor was with him, "You need to come with us." The man said, assuredly.

"Like hell I am. Give me answers and then I'll consider helping you guys out." Bob said sternly. Without a blink, the guard popped Bob in the side with a cattle prod. The shock sent Bob to the floor. Quickly, the soldier unlocked the cell door and the man walked inside. Both grabbed Bob by his shoulders and legs and began to hoist him out.

"Where are you taking him?" Suzie asked, her voice panicked. The two ignored her and continued to carry Bob's body down the hall, "What are you doing to him?!"

The door was only a few feet away. Gerald, Charlie, and Arnold were lined up at the front entrance to the hunting shop. Gerald gripped the shotgun tight in his hands. Arnold had the rifle slung over his shoulder and one of the pistols in his hand. Charlie held the other, and in his shorts pocket was his slingshot and the other pocket held a bag of his ammo.

"Got the key?" Arnold asked. Gerald rummaged through his pockets and found a small metallic key for the door to their supplies in the shop.

"Ok, let's make this quick and easy." Gerald said. He decided to go first, he inched closer to the door. One hand held the shotgun, finger on the trigger, and the other moved closer to the doorknob. With ease, Gerald grasped it, turned it and pushed the door inward, creaking the hinges with every inch it rotated. Slowly but surely, the trio stepped inside. The shop was very long and narrow. From the front to the back was a lengthy fourty feet. Off to the side was a set of stairs that led up to the upper floor which hung over their heads about ten feet. In the center of the ceiling was a large opening where the contents of the upper floor could be vaguely seen. Upstairs was where they had to go to get their gas.

"I'll get up there and get what we need. You two stay down here and watch for any walkers outside or inside. Charlie's heart started to race when Gerald said 'inside'.

"Gerald! Here." Arnold said, he tossed his pistol to Gerald who snatched it out of the air, "Little extra protection. Be careful up there."

"Don't yell if you need me. Find something and tap the ceiling with it, I'll hear ya." Gerald responded. He stuck the pistol in the back of his pants and held the shotgun with both hands, working his way up the stairs. Charlie and Arnold began to rummage the downstairs area.

"Never took a good look at what this place had." Arnold said. He looked over and saw the fishing wall, several rods still lined up neatly with a few out of place or on the floor. Charlie walked up beside him, "I remember fishing with my grandpa. Gerald and I went out to get Big Caesar on the lake. Things were simple back then weren't they. You had your chocolate addiction." Arnold looked to Charlie and smiled.

"I know. I'm surprised I'm still alive after that. Those hospital visits after quitting scared me too." Charlie responded.

"Instantly changing your diet like that is gonna cause problems regardless. But you were young it's ok. Be thankful nothing bad came out of it before or after you quit." Arnold said, putting his hand on Charlie's shoulder. Charlie looked up and smiled.

Upstairs, Gerald slowly moved forward, the floor creaking with every step. He looked across the room and eyeballed the storage room he was going for. Several shelves stood in his way and he had to make his path around them. Without paying attention, Gerald bumped into a shelf with his knee and a pile of empty snack boxes came crashing to the floor. Almost as if the sound was on stereo, it sent waves through the entire shop. Charlie and Arnold looked up, still staying silent but hoping Gerald wasn't in trouble. No sounds of struggle or pain gave them the sign that Gerald was still ok.

Gerald bit his lip for a second and regained his bearings. He continued to waltz around the shelf. Eventually, he made it to the storage room. He rummaged his pocket again, pulled out the key, and slowly inserted it into the lock hole. After torquing it, the door was unlocked. Gerald put the key away and grabbed the doorknob. He rotated it, and gave it a good pull. The door slid open with ease.

Out of nowhere, a dead body came sliding off the door and fell right on top of Gerald.

At the school, Phoebe paced back and forth out of nervousness and impatience. It has been twenty minutes. Fifteen more till departure.

"Phoebe, I know they're okay. Just relax alright?" Eugene said.

"Yeah, your constant pitter pattering feet are startin' to get on my nerves." Stinky added.

Phoebe snapped, "You don't know that Eugene. Gerald could be dead and we'd be waiting for nothing."

"It's thirty five minutes, we know that. They know that."

"If we have to leave without them, it's what we're going to have to do." Oscar said, standing against a classroom entrance.

"Oscar shut up! If it wasn't for you, Gerald wouldn't be out there right now." Phoebe cried.

Oscar looked at her obliviously, shocked at her anger and his eyes widened. A sudden shock of melancholy took Oscar over and he went down the hall to the stair well. Phoebe walked back to the wall and fell against it. Harold, meanwhile, came through the door, an empty bucket in his hand. He had finished pouring slop on the Humvee to cover up their scent when they escape. Eugene and Stinky sat in silence, side by side to the left, and Harold saw Phoebe on the right, her head in her arms, afraid that she could lose more loved ones in the hours to come.

Harold set the bucket down quietly and walked over to Phoebe, he kneeled down and wrapped her in a tight hug, "It's going to be ok Phoebe." Phoebe looked at him and returned his hug. Oscar saw this and began to walk up the stairs. He strolled down the empty hallway and into one of the classrooms. He waltzed over to the window and looked outward, a bit further out in the dense fog and dim orange sky losing brightness and day turning to night, he could see the hunting store. He himself started to hope the three would come back soon.

Then a rattling drew his attention away from the store and he turned around. The room was still empty. He turned back to see a zombie a foot away from him, looking through the glass, ready to lunge. Oscar stepped back as the zombie snarled, pounced through the glass and lunged at Oscar.

Gerald stepped away from the body. The loud thump of the corpse hitting the ground drew Charlie and Arnold's attention and they dashed upstairs, "What happened?" Arnold asked.

"This fucking guy came spewing out of the storage room!" Gerald replied angrily.

Charlie examined, the body's skin was pale brown, blood ran from the open gash in the forehead and soaked into its blue buttoned shirt. It also had on blue cargo shorts. The body itself was plush and a bit chubby, "It's Harvey…" Arnold said in horror.

"No no, it can't be. Harvey the mail man, a corpse miles away from Hillwood, are you kidding me!?" Gerald said in shock.

"Gerald be quiet! We've got a job to do, let's do it and get out now." Arnold whispered loudly. Gerald grunted and stepped over Harvey's body into the closet. Arnold tossed him a duffle bag and Gerald loaded it with what was left in the closet, a couple boxes of crackers and a 12 pack of Yahoo soda. He passed the bag back to Arnold, shouldered the shotgun and he grabbed the two gasoline tanks in the corner, both with ten gallons of gas in them.

"Let's get out of here." Gerald said, the three started to make their way to the stairs when Arnold stopped them.

"Wait," he said, looking to Harvey's body, "We should say something."

"Come on Arnold, he's been resting in peace for some time now. I don't think a few words is gonna make his soul any more comfortable."

"It's out of respect Gerald. We need to do it now. Come on." Arnold said, he set down the bag and walked back over to the body. Gerald set down the tanks and took off his shotgun. Arnold and Charlie did the same, they bowed their heads and closed their eyes. Gerald reluctantly left his eyes wandering out of impatience.

"God, we hope you look over Harvey. Seeing how he went is a sight no human being should ever see." As Arnold continued to pray, Gerald peaked at Harvey's head and the wound that split his cheek from the rest of his face. He knelt down and looked closer, "Gerald, what are you doing?"

"Hold up Arnold, this doesn't look like a regular bite. The cut's too fine for teeth to gnaw into." Gerald said.

"So?" Arnold said.

"So. Harvey wasn't killed by no simple zeke. This is something different." He said. Arnold looked closer and saw where Gerald was coming from.

"You're right, come on let's get out of here. We've got maybe ten minutes left." The three grabbed their stuff again and walked down the stairs. Lighting started to flash the interior of the shop and thunder followed closely. A storm was brewing.

Arnold, leading the pack looked back up past Gerald and Charlie to the upper floor, pondering if anything was forgotten. Gerald then screamed and it startled the whole group. They all fell backwards on the stairs and tumbled forward to the ground. They looked up and saw what scared Gerald. In the front doorway, stood a tall man, lanky body and a white jacket looking top was on his body as well as pale white looking slacks. His skin was darkishly tan and eyes beamed with black brownish color. In his hands, a long wooden rod and on the end was a large axe with streaks of red on the end of it. The figure stepped inside and stared at the three. Arnold got a good look of his face.

"Willie?" Arnold said, "Willy the Jolly Olly man?"

"Hello boys." The figure said, very solemnly and an utter sense of terror in his voice.

"It is you Willie! You're alive!" Gerald said happily.

"I most certainly am." Willie replied, his voice almost sadistically moaning.

"Where have you been? Marty Green said you were with him then you took off. You okay?" Gerald asked. Arnold then flashed back to when Gerald told him about Helga's whereabouts, and how the last thing Helga could radio in was Willie's name. He started to realize what Willie could have done.

"You boys don't seem to be too shabbish yourselves." Willie continued to moan.

"What've you done Willie." Arnold said, slowly putting the pieces together, Helga's message, the wound on Harvey's face.

"Whatever do you mean?" Willie asked. The boys started to get up slowly.

"Helga. She was in here and you tried to kill her didn't you. What'd you do." Arnold said, intimidating.

"Oh that little bitch. You're lucky she got away with her life."

"Willie, what're you talkin man? Are you crazy?" Gerald asked.

Willie sighed, he continued to inch forward, "What makes you think I could be crazy." He said, his voice raised.

"Willie just take it easy, we're just getting the last of our supplies and we'll be on our way." Arnold said.

"_Your _supplies? What makes you think _anything_ in this place is _YOURS!" _Willie said, "Just because you said so? I think NOT!" Willie started to shout.

"Willie, keep quiet, they're gonna find us!" Charlie uttered.

"They? They?! They are not going to find me. They're going to find you, and you are going to be their meal!" Willie said. He raised the axe but he didn't aim at the boys, he swung to his right and smashed the axe into the glass window. The impact echoed down the streets. Several walkers strolling across the sidewalk turned their heads toward the noise and saw Willie standing in the doorway.

"Willie what the fuck is your problem?!" Gerald asked frantically.

"Come and get it my babies!" Willie cried. He smashed the axe against the door and then on the shelf to his left. He spun the axe in his hand and looked at the boys now standing and flinching with his every move, "Why shouldn't I get in on the fun? Take a piece of each of you boys myself!" He cried, charging at them with the axe raised high. The three split, Charlie ran straight back, Gerald ran back to the stairs, and Arnold hit the corner against the shattered glass window. Zombies started to zero in on the hunting shop and got closer and closer.

Willie chose Arnold as his first target. He ran at him swinging but Arnold was quick enough to dodge each move. Gerald looked above the staircase and saw the window on the second floor. He quickly ran up to it, grabbed a chair and smashed it against the window. The shattered glass fell to the concrete sidewalk, some almost hit Arnold on the shoulder. Arnold got up quickly and ran for Charlie. Gerald came back to the stairs, and called for Arnold and Charlie.

"Guys! Up here!" Arnold dashed to his right, grabbed Charlie who was huddled in a corner, terrified, and they ran up the stairs. Arnold saw what Gerald had planned.

"Gerald that's nuts."

"It's only a few feet higher. Remember the Sewer king?" He asked. They approached the window and looked down. Zombies started to charge into the shop through the front door.

"We're trapped!" Charlie uttered.

"No we're not, come on Arnold, live or die?" Gerald asked. At that moment Willie came to the top of the stairs and saw them.

"Time for chow!" He said. He began to charge the guys but they each made their decision and leapt from the window. Charlie hit the ground too hard and the pistol in his hand flew from his grasp. Before he could grab it, Arnold pulled him up. They looked back at the shop, now fully in front of them and saw the zombies pouring up the stairs to where they once were on the second floor. Willie stood at the edge of the shattered window, "You're gonna die. You're all gonna dieeee!" Willie screeched, flailing the axe everywhere. Gerald saw some of the zombies that were still on the main floor turn around and noticed them standing in the middle of the street. They snarled and started to run at the group.

"Run!" Gerald cried.

Rain started to pitter patter on the school rooftop. A roll of thunder had everybody at the back of the school looking up to listen to its eerie yet comforting noise. The world around them felt chaotic and it was a feeling that gave them dread.

Eugene looked at his watch, Gerald and his team had five minutes left till they departed. A loud slam drew their attention away from the door to look toward the stairwell. Quiet sounds of struggle sent shivers down their spine and they began to walk slowly toward the stairwell far down the hall.

"O-Oscar?" Phoebe uttered. There was silence. The grunting and struggling noises stopped. Harold walked forward.

"Wait here, I'll go see what's going on." He said as he walked toward the staircase. Eugene called his name but Harold did not respond and he continued to walk toward the stairwell.

Upstairs, a body laid limp on the ground, blood pouring out from its freshly opened wound. Standing over it was the tall figure of Oscar, with a metallic globe in his hand, red mucous smeared on one side. He dropped the blunt object to the floor and stepped over the corpse he had just sent back to its grave. Oscar than looked toward the classroom door when he heard a faint voice call his name.

Harold stood at the bottom of the stairs. He looked back at the group and then back at the stairs. Oscar left the classroom and walked toward the stairs.

Suddenly a loud slam drew Harold and the others toward a classroom door that was between them. Another slam came after. Low growls were heard on the other side and then suddenly, the door burst open to reveal a pair of zombies with bloodied fists. They stepped over the shattered splintered door piece and examined their prey. They looked to their right and saw the group standing by the doorway and then at Harold to their left who was standing on the first step of the stairwell. One of them screeched and they began to charge after Phoebe and the others.

Eugene screamed in terror and Phoebe looked at the sealed up door. She knelt down, grabbed the baseball bat they had. "Stinky, get the door!" She hollered

As Stinky fumbled with the chain that sealed the door shut, Phoebe charged at the zombies. She raised the bat high in her hands and swung at the first zombie. The strike knocked its head to the side and it collided with the other, sending both to the floor in a daze.

"Harold come on!" She cried. Before Harold could make a run to their side, another zombie popped in through the classroom. Behind the zombie, Harold could see how they got in, a broken window, presumably on the side that they had forgotten to spread slop around. The creature saw Harold and dashed after him. He quickly ran up the stairs, nearly stumbling on each step. As he made it to the top, the zombie continued to scamper after him. Then out of nowhere, a leg swung around and knocked the zombie over the banister sending it back down to the first floor. Harold looked up and saw Oscar standing over him.

"Come on Harold, this way." Oscar said. They could hear more screeches as more zombies began to pick up their scent and came pouring into the school through the broken window. Oscar and Harold ran for one of the classrooms and ran inside, slamming the door shut.

Outside, Gerald Arnold, and Charlie slammed their backs against the side of a building, breathing heavily. They had just turned the corner and were about a block away from the school.

"Can't shake these bastards. Where are we gonna go now?" Gerald asked, panicking. Arnold, his chest pumping in and outward, looked around. He then saw a large garbage dumpster to the side, and then higher up, was a ladder leading to the fire escape. It scaled all the way to the roof.

"We're not gonna make it going forward. We're going up." He said as he ran for the dumpster. He took a smaller box and pulled it in front of the dumpster. He climbed up, turned around and stuck his hand out, "Come on!"

Gerald was the first, he hopped up the box, passed Arnold the gas tank, grabbed Arnold's hand and Arnold hoisted him up. Charlie began to climb up the box, when zombies started to turn the corner and ran after them. Before they could hop up the dumpster, Gerald took a massive swing at them with the second gas tank. Arnold took one tank and Gerald held the other. They shouldered their weapons and began to scale the building with one hand holding the bars as the other hoisting the twenty pound gas tanks.

As they hopped off the fire escape and stood on the roof, they began to regain their bearings and find where they had to head. Arnold squinted his eyes in one direction and could see the school far in the near distance. He walked over to the edge of the building and looked over it. A good three story drop, but it was four feet between them and the second building. He tossed the gas tank over to the building and told Gerald to do the same.

"Are you crazy Arnold? Hopping buildings? We ain't gymnasts here man!" Gerald said.

"Live or die remember?" Arnold said as he leapt across the buildings and landed safely on the other side.

"Some summer vacation." Gerald muttered as he tossed the gas tank which Arnold caught. He then took a few steps back and ran. His first foot caught the ledge but the other slipped by the toes. Before he could tumble down to the gathering horde below, Arnold caught him by his red shirt and pulled him to the flat end.

"Come on Charlie!" Arnold called. Charlie clapped his hands, rubbed them and ran. His skinnyness propelled him further than expected and he collided into Gerald who had open arms. Both fell to the floor. "We're almost there. Let's get this gas in the Humvee and get out of here." Arnold said. Before long, the group was bounding over big dips and hopping from building to building, getting closer and closer to the roof of the school.

Now is a good time to click this link watch?v=ST2H8FWDvEA

On the ground at the school, Stinky had unlocked the door and Phoebe, Eugene, and Hyunh walked to the other side. Stinky shut the doors and sealed them up, locking themselves outside the school, "Where the hell are those fellers?!" Stinky asked frantically as he shut the padlock.

"They'll be here, I know it." Phoebe said.

"And what about Oscar and Harold? Are we just gonna leave them up there to be devoured?!" Eugene said.

"We'll drive around in the Humvee and try to clear the way for them to jump on the Humvee." Phoebe said.

"That's a twenty foot drop from those windows up there Phoebe. They can't make it. Not to mention, we need that gas if we're gonna make it far." Stinky said.

"If they wanna stay alive, it's what we have to do!" Phoebe demanded.

"Guys, can we have this discussion somewhere safer?" Eugene said, motioning over to the parked Humvee, khaki colored and massive compared to the school playset which sat beside it.

Arnold and the others landed on the next rooftop. The school was right across from them, "Come on, all we gotta do is jump one last time, climb in through the skylight, get the gas in the Hummer and we're gone." Arnold said.

Just as he finished talking, they heard an engine sputter then rev up. They looked over to the ledge and walked over to it. There they saw the Humvee, its lights shining brightly and it slowly began to inch out of the playground,

"They're already leaving?!" Gerald shockingly exclaimed.

"No, there's still time!" Charlie said.

"Let's go, if we can get to the school, we can still catch them. The Humvee started to pull out further. Arnold and the other two leapt across to the school and located the nearest skylight. Gerald blasted it out with the shotgun and they jumped inside. The room was clean, save for a freshly rotting corpse by an open window. They looked around and saw Harold and Oscar huddled in the corner.

"Arnold! Gerald! Choco boy! You guys made it!" Harold said happily.

"None too happy about it. We gotta move, the others are leaving without us." Gerald said.

"What?!" Harold exclaimed.

"Don't bitch about it, come on let's go!" Gerald hollered. The group threw open the classroom door and went back out into the hallway. They heard screeches coming from the stairwell, getting louder and louder.

"Oh come on!" Harold angrily said.

Oscar looked at the group and then back at the top of the stairs. He looked to the sides and saw the gates that slid shut to lock up the hallways after school hours. Quickly, he grabbed one side and slid it the middle of the hall, he then grabbed the other and connected it to the first half, sealing himself on the side with the stairs and the approaching zombies.

"Mr. Kokoshka what're you doing?" Arnold asked frantically.

"I'm sorry Arnold, sorry for all the trouble I've given you and your family. This is how it has to be." Oscar replied.

"No, Mr. Kokoshka, no. It doesn't have to be like that." Arnold said.

"For so long, I've been so selfish, so rolled up in my own greed I never could see what was important. It's time I changed things. It's time I did something for you and your life Arnold."

"Oscar, please don't." Arnold said, getting more frantic, tears dripping from his eyes. It was the first time Arnold ever called Oscar by his first name.

"Do me a favor Arnold, find my wife. Find Suzie and tell her I love her. I'm doing this for you, and I'm doing this for her." Oscar said, backing away from the gate.

"Oscar don't! We have guns! We can fight them!" Arnold screamed. Gerald, knowing they wouldn't have enough ammo grabbed Arnold's shoulders and began to pull him back.

"Gerald, take the fire escape on the other side of the school and get to the others." Oscar ordered, "I love you Arnold, you're the little nephew I always wanted to be an uncle to."

Arnold continued to watch him as zombies began to reach the top of the stairs.

Then Oscar said, "Goodbye."

Immediately, he swung a fist at the first zombie to charge him, sending it flying back toward the wall. The others began to run after him. Oscar ran into a classroom again and shut the door. Gerald continued to pull a screaming Arnold away from the gate and into the classroom with the fire escape. Charlie and Harold followed. The last thing Arnold saw, were zombies banging on the door that Oscar had barricaded himself behind. Before Gerald pulled him all the way in, Arnold could see the zombies breaching the door and beginning to pour inside the room Oscar was hiding.

They went over to the open window, stepping over the zombie Oscar had killed and climbed out onto the fire escape. They began to quickly run down the ladders from level to level, holding the gas tank in one hand and keeping his grip on the ladders with the other. Arnold, while he climbed down, wiped tears from his eyes. Gerald hit the ground first, followed by Charlie and Harold and finally Arnold. Arnold and Gerald set their gas tanks down.

"Where's the Humvee?!" Harold asked frantically.

"It's gone. They left without us." Charlie said in despair.

"No, no it's not. Not now, this is _not_ how it's gonna be." Arnold demanded, "They're coming back for us." He walked toward the vacant street, away from the school which continued to fill with zombies, "Come on, we've still got Stinky's truck, if we're quick we can catch up." Arnold said, picking up his gas, Gerald doing the same. They sprinted away from the school and back down the alley they had first taken when they first arrived at the school. Sure enough, Stinky's truck was still parked there. No zombies were around to catch their attention.

"Fill the truck with one of the tanks and put the other in the truckbed." Arnold said, handing his gas tank to Charlie. Harold climbed into the truck, and Arnold walked around to the other side of the truck. He peaked inside and sighed with relief to see the keys sitting on the dash where Stinky had left them.

Gerald tipped the gasoline container into the plug hole and gas began to pour out, its foul odor filling Gerald's nostrils. Charlie was on the other side, he stood up on his toes to reach inside the truck bed and set the container down.

Suddenly, a sharp gnawing pain hit Charlie and he collapsed. The throbbing came from his leg and he looked down in horror to see a zombie's teeth being sunk into his calf. The zombie, laying under the truck began to crawl after him after having bitten him.

"Arnold!" Charlie called. Arnold looked out the truck window and saw the zombie. He frantically hopped out the truck and pulled out the shotgun, blowing the zombie's head off. Charlie sat there, clutching his leg. Arnold went to his side, moaning and repeating to himself.

"No no no no no no no no."

Gerald went over, saw his wound, "Oh shit." He uttered.

"No no, Charlie, stay with me. This is gonna be okay." Arnold said.

"This can't be. It hurts so bad." Charlie moaned sobbingly.

"Listen to me, you're gonna be okay." Arnold said, his voice shaking with fear.

"Arnold." Gerald said. Arnold looked up at him, seeing his face with extreme assurance and self awareness, as if Gerald were to say, 'It's over for him'. But only doing it with eye contact to keep Charlie from hearing.

Gerald, being behind Charlie, began to pull out his pistol from his pocket, "Wait." Arnold said, "It's been at least twenty seconds now, and he's not changing." Gerald let go of his holster.

"Feel anything?" Gerald asked.

"N-no. It just stings a bit." Charlie said.

"No cold sensation? Tingling of the spine?" Arnold asked.

"Nothing…" Charlie said, as they heard a running engine get closer. Out of nowhere, the humvee came skidding up beside Stinky's truck and the others piled out. Phoebe ran around and hopped into Gerald's arms, gripping him tightly. She looked over and saw Charlie on the ground.

"What happened?" She asked.

"Charlie's been bitten." Gerald responded.

"What?" Phoebe asked panicked.

"Wait Phoebe, he's not changing…" Arnold asked, shocked.

"Well..why is that?" Phoebe asked. Arnold looked at her and back at Charlie who had the same dumbfounded look as Arnold did. Gerald continued to look on in shock as well as Hyunh, Harold, Eugene, and Stinky, "Why's he not changing?" Phoebe's barrage of questions just faded away in everybody's minds, "Why is he not changing? How come the bite's not infected?...How is that possible?...Where's Oscar?...Why's he not changing"….…

The End….?

Click next chapter for a sneak peak of what's to come


	8. Coming Soon

An indescribable miracle…

Hope for a cure…

A search for a new home…

Determination to find lost love…

Reunion with family…

A powerful and strategic new enemy…

Returning to the jungle…

Bringing loved ones back…

Finding life again…

All is discovered, as Arnold and company seek to find the answers behind this apocalyptic mess…

Hey Zombies Season 2 coming September 2013


	9. Letter from Author

I'm glad you all enjoyed my first ever fan fiction. I tried my best to immerse you guys in the environment and keep readers on edge with the action and thrills I've been giving you. Rest assured I've been thinking around the clock about what I'm going to do to continue into future seasons.

Now for season 2, I've seen in a lot of the reviews that many of you are distraught about waiting till September for the story to continue. As am I. I'm very prideful of this fan fic and I really want to share my ideas with you all, but if you really want to get more entertainment, you'll have to earn it. I want to know that my work is well worth doubling if I have an audience that wants it.

Here's the deal, if season 1 can get 20 favorites or 20 followers, I'll double my efforts to write season 2 chapters and I'll reset the date to mid or even early August. I want to keep you guys updated and keep the story going as swiftly as possible.

Share it with your friends, copy the story link and give it to them, spread the word that you like this fan fiction, tell them what you've told me in the reviews, and let your passionate Hey Arnold fanship side rise to the top. Through your passion and fanship, we can give more support to the cause and we can bring Hey Arnold back with the Jungle Movie and maybe even more seasons! Thank you all so much for your support and critique. I'm as excited as you are to have the story continue. Remember, 20 favs or follows and I'll release season 2 sooner! Thank you all again! You guys are awesome!

Matt aka EkoGrande aka Harmonist Art aka Hey Arnold Fan!


	10. Update! (8-7-2013)

Guys thank you so much for passing the word around, we're almost there, 4 follows away from getting season 2 sooner.

As an update, I've got a couple bits of news, first off I have 3 chapters written for season 2, I'm confident that if we were to hit the 20 mark real soon, I'd be able to bring you guys a new chapter every week, if we don't hit it, rest assured when September 1st comes, you most likely will get at least two chapters every week.

More awesome news, I decided to make a video intro to my fan fiction, almost as if it were a television show. This way, you guys can choose to watch it before you read new chapters, get you guys geared up for what's to come, it's also simply a way of expanding my imagination with this, because I take great pride in what I'm creating here and I'm grateful that it's reaching an audience. At the end of this letter is a link to the video on my Youtube channel. Copy and paste it after youtube dot com to load it. Keep it with you if ever you want to watch it before reading.

Thank you guys so much for your support and reception, know that I'm here with you to keep you guys entertained, send me PMs, like my facebook page "EkoGrande" for future updates, follow me on twitter "spinningfaith". And get excited for season 2 and future seasons to come! :D

Hey Zombies Intro: watch?v=y1r0awI_Hy8 (Copy and paste after youtube. com)

Matt H


	11. Sneak Peek

As a 10-day countdown to season 2, I've decided to release an excerpt from what I have so far for season 2, I will give no notion of what happens before or after, nor when this occurs, but I figured I'd have something for you guys to hang on to till September 1st. Thank you all very much for your support! I hope you enjoy this little sneak peek I'm offering you. Looking forward to keeping you guys around for another season!

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The station was bare empty, no sign of life, neither human nor walker. Arnold kept his guard up though continuously as he climbed out of the truck and quietly shut the door. He treaded through the debris, kicking empty cans away from him or examining wrecked cars. Suddenly, a crow cried out from its perch on the station rooftop. He spun around, hand grasping his holstered pistol, thumb on the hammer. The crow cawed once more and took off from its resting spot. Arnold sighed with caution as he took his hand off the pistol. He turned back toward the station and began to walk toward its doors.

Inside, the realm of the whole store uttered recent death. The odor was foul and Arnold gagged at the sites. Shelfs were turned over, broken due to struggles between the living and the undead. A large pool of blood sat on the counter next to a tipped over cash register. The blood ran from the counter to the edge and dripped frequently on the floor. Arnold couldn't tell if the blood was infectious or not but he chose to steer clear either way. With caution still in his mind, Arnold took off the knapsack he had strung to his back and sifted through the shelves looking for leftover products and useful supplies.

After checking both the grocery and the backroom, Arnold was able to find two cans of soda, a bottled water, and two boxes of Excedrin. Dropping it all in the sack, Arnold flung it over his shoulder and walked out of the store. As he passed through the broken sliding doors, he was greeted by two guys in red bandanas.

"Greetings." Said one of them in a ripped jeans vest, Arnold figured he knew what trouble he was in. But he decided to play it cool.

"Hey guys." He said.

"Whatcha doing?" The other one, a smaller and heftier guy, asked.

"Passing through, I found this station and figured I'd pop in to see what they had."

"Well did you find anything?" The one in the vest asked.

"Actually yes I did." Arnold said with a fake but convincing smile.

"Really. Can you show us?" The hefty one asked.

"I actually can't, I kinda have somewhere to be." Arnold replied.

"What makes you think you've got a choice?" The hefty one asked again. At that point, Arnold knew his speech skills would fail him, and he slowly reached for the knapsack string. He pinched it and pulled the bag from his shoulder, setting it slowly on the ground.

"You're a smart guy." Said Vest-guy, he began to walk forward, "Now walk away. And we won't do anything 'irrational'." He then said.

"'Fraid I can't do that." Arnold responded, his voice slightly lower.

Vest-guy sighed with frustration, "Listen, kid-" "Pretty sure I'm not a kid." Arnold interrupted.

"Take off now, and we won't have trouble." Hefty guy said.

"You're talking to the wrong people." Arnold responded, his arm crept to his backside where on his belt was another holster with a butterfly knife inside.

"K fucker, you asked for it." Vest guy said as he approached Arnold, cracking his knuckles.

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Hey Zombies Season 2 – Coming September 1st, 2013


	12. It's Here!

Season 2 Is here! Weekly episodes every Friday. Stay Tuned!

Journal entry #56 – August 19 2012, 2 months after initial outbreak

"Things were looking up. We had our lives, hope, and Oscar to thank for it all. Without him, we probably would have never gotten to where we are now. After we escaped the school, Charlie got attacked and that's when we got dumbfounded. Charlie was just as surprised. I still remember him sitting there with blood gushing out of the bite wound on his leg. We waited maybe five more minutes till we realized Charlie wasn't changing. No one wanted to believe me when I said it could mean a chance at returning things to normal, a cure. It took me enough effort to convince Gerald to take him with us, and twice as much effort not to tie him to the top of the humvee. Instead we kept him in the bed of Stinky's truck. Then it was eastward to find more survivors, or maybe a better shelter. Where we stand, we couldn't make it to the west coast. We'd be lucky to come across a Future Tech station in the middle of nowhere here. Maybe they could tell us something about Charlie…

Go to my FF profile to start reading Episode 1 now!


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